1i. Minutes 1 44
CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING •
MARCH 9, 1992
114 Mayor Chmiel called the meeting to order at - 7:30 p.m.. The meeting was opened
with the Pledge to the Flag led by the Brownie Troop.
' MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Chmiel, Councilman Mason, Councilman Workman, Councilman
Wing and Councilwoman Dimler
STAFF PRESENT: Don Ashworth, Elliott Knetsch, Charles Folch, Todd Gerhardt,
Todd Hoffman, Paul Krauss, and Sharmin Al -Jaff
APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Councilwoman Dimler moved, Councilman Workman seconded to
approve the agenda as amended by Mayor Chmiel to add under Council presentations
Youth Art Month, District 112. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
' PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: PROCLAMATION DECLARING MARCH 8 -14, 1992 AS GIRL SCOUT
WEEK.
Mayor Chmiel: The next item is something that's really sort of neat for us to
see today. On March 12th of this year it's going to be the Girl Scouts of the
United States of America's celebrating their 80th years of preparing girls to
meet the challenges in our every changing society. That's the reason we have
all these smiling faces right here in front of us. They all look so happy. And
with that I would also like to read a proclamation,, or I should say a resolution
declaring March 8th thru the 14th, 1992 as Girl Scout Week. Whereas on March
12, 1992 Girl Scouts of the United States of America celebrates 80 years of
helping girls grow into confident and resoureful adults; and Whereas, Girl
Scouts of the USA, 3 million strong is the largest non - profit organization for
girls in the world; and Whereas, the Greater Minneapolis Girl Scout Council
II coordinates activities for more than 23,000 girls in an 8 county area, and
Whereas, Girl Scouting reaches out to girls of diverse culture, heritage
including Asian, Hispanic, African American and Native American; and Whereas,
' Girl Scouting provides an environment where girls can enjoy nature, learn to
work together and gain leadership skills; and Whereas, Girl Scouts helping girls
again gain self esteem to make the right choices in their personal lives and
their careers; and Whereas, Girl Scouting helps girls become outstanding
citizens of our community; Now Therefore, I, Donald J. Chmiel, the Mayor of the
city of Chanhassen do hereby proclaim the week of March 8 -14, 1992 to be Girl
Scout Week. Passed and adopted by the Chanhassen City Council this 9th day of
March, 1992. Congratulations.
Girl Scout Leader: We colored in a special banner for you to see because this
is the 80th anniversary of Girl Scouting. And we thank you for letting us come
tonight...
Mayor Chmiel: I just want to say that it's really a pleasure to see these girls
as they're standing here and they've got those smiles on their faces. They look
as though they're going to be our leaders in the upcoming years. Thank you
again for coming.
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
11 Resolution #92 -31: Mayor Chmiel moved, Councilman Mason seconded a proclamation
declaring March 8 -14, 1992 as Girl Scout Week. All voted in favor and the
II motion carried unanimously.
CONSENT AGENDA; Councilman Workman moved, Councilwoman Dialer seconded to
approve the following consent agenda items pursuant to the City Manager's
recommendations:
a. Approval of Accounts.
II b. Approval of Minutes.
I d. Resolution #92 - 32: Resolution Approving Historic Preservation Trust
Agreement.
e. Subdivision of 2.107 Acres into Two Lots, 915 Pleasant View Road, Edwards/
Vogel Subdivision, Scott Edwards and David Vogel.
f. Resolution #92 - 33: Authorize Readvertisement for Bids for Market Square
Storm Sewer Project No. 90 -13.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously.
II VISITOR PRESENTATIONS:
UPDATE ON SOUTHWEST METRO TRANSIT, DIANE HARBERTS.
' Mayor Chmiel: Our next item on the Southwest Metro Transit is not going to be '
here and this is going to be tabled until March 23rd. Our next meeting.
II Councilman Workman moved, Councilwoman Dialer seconded to table this item until
the March 23, 1992 City Council meeting. All voted in favor and the motion
carried unanimously.
Conrad Fiskness: Is this...Visitor Presentation?
1 Mayor Chmiel: Yes. If you'd like to do something, I'd be more than happy to
have you to do that Conrad.
I Conrad Fiskness: 30 seconds, if I may impose on your time. Conrad Fiskness
from the Riley- Purgatory -Bluff Creek Watershed District. I just wanted to come
by and explain an item to you folks. As you're probably aware, we've been
working with your staff with regard to an LCMR proposal for Bluff Creek. I just
wanted to explain to you why this happened to come about with such what
seemingly incredible short amount of time and that's exactly the way it came to
us. At our February meeting a gentleman appeared before us and said that he had
II been made aware just within about a week before that of an opportunity to apply
for LCMR funds for that area. He happens to be, a gentleman by the name of Eric
Roth. He has a long time interest in that area. He had done some preliminary
I work. He brought it into us and he says you have, this is on Wednesday night at
about 9:00. He says you have until 4:00 Friday afternoon to have this proposal .
in and he says you look like you'd be the kind of an organization that might be
able to be the sponsor. We discussed it and we decided that there was enough
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
money involved, even though it was a long shot. We understand there are 900
applicants, that it was still worth getting Chanhassen, if we could help them,
' on the record anyway as being an applicant. The proposal that was whipped
together, and we made it within the 44 hours that we had at our disposal, is for
• a, and maybe you have seen copies of that proposal. I'm not sure but there was
included $5.3 million for land acquisition, $200,000.00 for planning and
$100,000.00 for a demonstration area. I don't know what our chances are.
They're probably too slim and none but we didn't want to be the ones that would
stand, someone would be able to say that well if they had done something we
might have had a chance at it. So we plowed ahead. We've done some work with
your staff. With Paul Krauss. Some discussions. We can't tell you a whole lot
about what this is about. There are some other people that have done some of
the early preliminary work and they are continuing to do some. We don't have a
whole lot of money to spend on a lot of preliminary work either at this juncture
not having had any opportunity to plan our budget for it. My understanding at
this point is, that there will be a first cut made as to who survives. If this
proposal makes that first cut, then we would propose that we would work it out
so that we could spend considerable time working with Paul and anybody else from
the City that would be appropriate and probably any work done prior to that time
could wind up being an exercise in futility and spending of taxpayers money.
But we did want to let you know that we weren't trying to go around you. We
weren't trying to do anything of the sort. We just wanted to, as long as
someone had come to us with this idea and it might have even a slim chance, we'd
pick up the ball and carry it to the next step and so there'd be at least
available an opportunity for you. That's all.
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you. Appreciate it. ,
PUBLIC HEARING: SUPPLEMENT REPORT TO FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR WEST 78TH STREET
DETACHMENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT 92 -3 (FORMERLY PROJECT 87 -2). 1
Public Present:
Name Address '
Jim Dvorak Strgar- Roscoe - Fausch
Dennis Eyler Strgar- Roscoe - Fausch
Wilmer Molnau 8541 Audubon Road
Charlie James 6640 Shady Oak Road, Eden Prairie
Brian Burdick 426 Lake Street, Excelsior
Richard Brose 8575 Kandla Road, Waconia
Doug Kunin Eckankar
_ Charles Folch: Mr. Mayor, members' of the Council. Our project consultant
engineer, Mr. Jim Dvorak is here tonight to provide a presentation to initiate
the public hearing. We also have his associate Dennis Eyler of SRF to provide
answers to any more detailed questions on the traffic analysis. The study that
was recently completed.
Jim Dvorak: Like Charles and the Mayor have indicated, this is a public hearing
for Project 92 -3 which is this long awaited detachment of West 78th Street just
east of downtown. West of the central business district. The project as we
have approached this considers West 78th between Kerber and Powers Blvd. and
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'City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
also Powers Blvd. from that point where MnDot...construction in the spring,
' north approximately 1,500 feet. Sections that we envision for 78th and Powers
are basically a four lane divided roadway. Four lanes providing two lanes in
each direction with a median in the middle. The median would then be narrowed
at points where a left turn needs to be developed for access into the individual .f
parcels along the road. These two sections show this. The upper one showing
the full 18 foot median. The lower one as can see shows a smaller median with a
left turn lane where the 18 foot median... This figure shows the actual
improvements that are proposed starting with the sanitary sewer, watermain. The
watermain and sanitary sewer will be extended along West 78th where needed to
provide service to the adjoining parcels, mainly in the westerly end in this
area and then some service in here and most of the other parcels are previously
served by utilities that are in existing West 78th. Storm sewer, the area is
basically drains from east /west and we are perpetuating that drainage pattern
bringing the water down West 78th into a treatment pond in this area and then
' draining into a protected wetland north of the future frontage road extension to
the west. In addition to street improvements, we've also proposed sidewalks on
both sides of West 78th. North and south as well as a trail extension on Powers
' to the next intersection. Also, examined was the possibility of installing
signals into this project. The signals will be required when a certain amount
of development takes place in the city. ...the cost of the signals in but until
that development takes place, the signals will not be necessary or warranted.
At the very least we will be installing conduit and...to facilitate the future
signal construction. In addition to the street and utility improvements, we're
also proposing some landscaping. As graphically illustrated here, I say
graphically because I know that this shows a large number of trees abutting the
roadway. This is a schematic or graphic. It is not intended to show the number
of trees. We also indicated that there will be some type of street lighting
' system along here. Here again this is a graphic. It is not intended to show
the number of street lights but only that there is the intent here to light the
roadway. In the median themselves, in the areas where there are turn lanes,
because of the right -of -way that's previously been dedicated, the median
II adjacent to the turn lanes is only 6 feet. In that area is not a wide enough or
practical to plant so we would propose that that be some type of a hard surface.
Either a concrete or some type of a decorative paver. That type of thing. In
' the widen areas which would be in this area here and here, there is the
opportunity to do some type of landscaping treatment. Small trees. Shurbs.
That type of thing. The other thing we want to avoid is any sight distance
problems that would be associated with planting and landscaping in areas where
you need to see to enter on and off West 78th. The estimated cost of the
project, we estimate that the West 78th portion will cost approximately $1.3
million. Of that about $970,000.00 is actual construction cost. Of the
1 attitives, the engineering, legal and administrative that type of thing being
about $240,000.00. Powers Blvd. about $451,000.00 construction costs with the
attitive being $160,000.00 for a total cost $612,000.00. Total cost for both
segments about $1.9 million dollars. Funding for this, the abutting properties
r that benefit from the improvement proposed to be assessed. The first column
here shows an estimate of what we have come up with for assessment. It should
be noted that these are only estimates and that the final assessment amount will
1 be determined when the project is constructed and final construction costs and
engineering costs are known. Grading the paving signals and lighting, .
assessments of about $270,000.00. Storm sewer and drainage, $109,000.00.
11 Sanitary and sewer, watermain together about $75,000.00 for a total proposed
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992 -
assessment of about $450,000.00. The balance, we have under the general
obligation column will be funded by the city in whatever funding mechanism they
have available. We also have an individual breakdown by parcel of what we
estimate or what the estimated assessment would be. I have additional copies...
if anybody's interested in having a copy for their use. I'll be happy to answer
any questions or address any concerns that people may have.
Mayor Chmiel: Very good. This is again, I'd like to mention a public hearing.
What I'd like to do is, if you have a question, come forward to the podium.
State your name and your address. Then if you have a question, we can have
those questions answered. Wilmer, did you want to ask a question?
Wilmer Molnau: Well it was just a little bit. Do I have to get up there? I'm
kind of shy.
Mayor Chmiel: Would you please. '
Wilmer Molnau: I'm a little bashful.
Mayor Chmiel: I know you are. But you're such a good looking guy.
Wilmer Molnau: I'm Willy Molnau. I live on Audubon Road. This landscaping,
will that include the car wash system too like we have for half of it now?
Every time we come to town we got to go home and wash our car because a little
breeze, we've got a 3 block car wash in town now and if we continue this, well
maybe we'll get the car wash from the other side on the way home.
Mayor Chmiel: Figure if we go up one side and come back the other way we might
get it accomplished. You're right. Tom, did you want to say something? 1
Councilman Workman: Well that's a good question. And if few of you know, Willy
has been voted Citizen of the Year. I wanted to bring that up, by the Chamber.
But we were talking about that because Todd, isn't the HRA picking up or
subsidizing the landscaping portion of this to an extent. Aren't the decisions
as to how much shrubbery, etc. are being left to the HRA which is at least
myself and the Mayor and we're keeping an eye and that kind of comment in mind
when we make practical decisions in that corner about where to put shrubbery and
sprinkler systems.
Wilmer Molnau: What I really wanted to know was in the middle, the way it looks
here, there's nothing unless I can't see well but up here there's shrubbery in
the middle of the street. Is that going to continue all the way is is what I'm
really trying to say?
Councilman Workman: Well, and what I'm trying to say is I think we're learning
from our mistakes. And that being a curve, we learn that down on the other end
around the Dinner Theatre that it makes for a little more difficult visibility
with the brush. The shrubbery that we had there.
Wilmer Molnau: Thank you. ,
Mayor Chmiel: Maybe you can answer that question fully.
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City'Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Jim Dvorak: I guess first of all I'd like to point out that there are three
areas that are wide enough in this plan that would enable some type of
landscaping to be done in the median... We will be very sensitive to the issue
of sight distance and that type of thing when we actually get into the final
design of landscaping the roadway.
Mayor Chmiel: Is there anyone else? This is a public hearing. If anyone has
any specific concerns, now's your time to come up.
Charlie James: The Girl Scouts are a hard act to follow. My name is Charlie
James. I'm with the T.F. James Company. I'd like to thank you all for this
opportunity to speak. I promise to be as brief as I can. I believe it's an
' unfortunate fact that the proposed street was redesigned without consultation or
input from, I want to say the adjoining property owners. ..with Brian but at
least it was designed without any notice or consultation to me. I'm not
certainly suggesting any maliciousness here or any conspiracy theory or
anything. I'm just saying that's the way it is. That's the way it was. I was
not asked to contribute any ideas and concerns and I am not privy to what
criteria and what assumptions were utilized in developing this plan. I do know
that this plan does not take into consideration the previous actions of the City
Council nor is it consistent with the development agreement that was executed
between the City and my firm. Some of this is ancient history so for the
' benefit of you who were not here in 1988, I would like to take just a few
minutes to bring you up to speed. I do see some new faces here tonight. When
we initially bought what I guess everybody refers to as the Brost property, the
' comprehensive plan for Chanhassen at that time showed the property pretty much
divided in half on an east /west line with multi - family to the north and
commercial, downtown commercial, or I should say general business to the south.
And even at that time the 78th Street detachment was contemplated. I don't know
' how long some of you have lived in Chanhassen but where the intersection is now,
there used to be kind of a pond and marsh and cattail area. So I think there
was the foresight that that intersection would have to be moved in the future
II and also to swing it around what was in a pond. So when we came in 3 or 4 years
ago with our plans, everything that we came in with and suggested and proposed
was in exact conformity with your comprehensive plan. And we worked with your
staff at that time and your consultants at that time and for a continuing period
of 3 years. And at that time Mr. Burdick was platting or maybe it was
replatting his land to the south. In designing the new street we tried to match
our driveways with Mr. Burdick's lot lines. I'd like to just show an •
illustration here if I may. The parcel of land that I own is this, everything
south of this green line here. This is West 78th Street down here as it
currently travels and here's Kerber. This is Powers Blvd.. This drawing was
done on March 27, 1987. Almost 4 years ago. And we met with MnDot and the
staff at that time and I see my consultant who's here on another matter this
evening, Jim Hill. And we worked with BRW and lots of thought went into the
radius of the turns and of the curves given the speeds and this sort of thing.
At that time it was contemplated there would be an 80 foot right -of -way which we
donated or dedicated. And it was proposed that there would be no medians in
this area. There were provisions for sidewalks and landscaping and that sort of
thing but they weren't going to continue some of the stuff that •was done •
downtown because already at that time I guess there was some problems developing
with the street being narrow in the wintertime or whatever. But in any event,
in working with your staff and with BRW, the previous consultants on this
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
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detachment, we were looking at the issue of access and I see Brian Burdick is
here tonight. Maybe he can help me on this but about the time that we were
1 planning the division of this property, the Burdicks were either dividing or
redividing their property and that's why there's these sets of lines. So what
we tried to accomplish, the first criteria we were told is that an access back
to be back 300 feet from Powers and that's what was provided here. And we 1
agreed that wherever possible we would put a driveway on a lot line so that two
parcels would share a driveway. And in the development agreement and what was
passed by the City Council was that there would be 4 driveway entrances along
West 78th Street. All those would be full turn movements. There were no
medians contemplated plus what we did is I offered to donate this area in here
and we replatted a little outlot because we didn't know what the exact
geometrics were going to be and this was a little Outlot A down here and the
idea was to get the Burdick's access coming back this way essentially at the
same point back as we were. Plus then what we did is we said okay, we'll try to
line our driveway entrances up wherever the Burdick's have a lot line. So these
points here, here's the lot line of the Burdick's and here's the lot line so in
the plan that was developed there was to be a full turn movement here, here and
I should say that this plan does not show how land was ultimately plotted.
There was 4 lots and the first 2 lots shared this driveway. The next 2 lots
shared a common driveway. Then essentially there was a driveway for this tract
here. And as I say, the intent of all of that was that they not only lined up
with the way that the Burdick's at that time were platting their property...but
they ended up being precisely the area in which we platted...So we got a plat
now and developed agreement that was dependent on shared driveway locations at
these points and we felt that was a significant concession at that point to have
these large tracts of land share a single full turn movement. And ultimately
the development agreements said that there'd be 4'driveways. There'd be 300
feet from Hwy 17. There'd be no access for this lot right here from Hwy 17 and
the street plans did not contemplate a dividied or raised median. Also at that
time we received approval from the City Council and the Planning Commission for
a.project that was dependent on the constructure of this detached road'and
fortunately I think primarily due to scheduling delays at MnDot, that detachment
didn't get built when it should and I guess we all missed our estimates on that.
The idea was that the detachment would be done in conjunction with TH 5 and I'm
sure you all now TH 5 was just pushed back and pushed back and pushed back.
Maybe I'll just hold these up. This was the plans that were previously done by
BRW and this is CR 17 here. I highlighted in yellow where the driveway
entrances were that were approved at that time. I've also shown on here in
purple where the lot lines are of the platted land. So here you see that we
have a driveway here 300 feet back from the intersection and the property line
of the platted lot goes right down the center of that driveway. There's no
driveway at this point and then these two lots share this driveway which is also
serves Mr. Burdick's parcel here across the street and ours as well. And that
property line is in the center of that driveway and when we come down here•
again, this driveway entrance was determined by Mr. Burdick's property line on
this side of the street so we agreed to put our driveway across from that. And
if we go a little bit further east towards downtown, again Mr. Burdick had a
property line here and so we agreed to place our driveway entrance across from
that anticipating that that would be the logical place in the future for a
business driveway entrance. I guess the problem that I have with the plan as
• it's been submitted tonight is that leaves us with 3 lots, I guess you'll have
to refer to your small drawing there. I don't know if the lots. It leaves us '
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
with 3 lots essentially that just become orphans... Originally we had a full
turn movement here that was 300 feet back from the intersection, which was the
1 required design standard we were told and that was shared on this side of the
street and this side of the street. We all said there was no entrance at this
point. There was an entrance at this 'point. And that was supposed to be shared
by these two lots with the services into this lot would come in and touch. It
was to the exact location, if you draw this line down was to hit right there on
these two lot lines on Mr. Burdick's property. The other entrances that we had
were on this lot line here and this lot line here. So a lot of thought went
into this and now all of a sudden you end up with a situation here that I just
found out about where I've got 3 lots up here that are orphan lots that you
can't get to from here. You can come from the north. You can come from the
' south. You can come from the west. You can't get into these lots and that, in
my opinion, really changes the use of these lots. And I guess we worked with .
staff here for 3 years on this and I met with staff this morning and expressed
by concerns and of course it was too late to come up with anything, for us to
work anything out for this evening. But I have indicated to staff that would
help solve this problem and I'd be willing to even increase the amount of
dedication of the right -of -way here if that would help us get more turn lanes in
I here. I want to explain that out here there's kind of a hole in this area and
we had everythin all set up to go here. Well this is going to be a temporary
retaining area and Jim had designed everything so that we could build and then
the City could figure out this storm sewer later and it is our intent, based on
the calculations that were done by James R. Hill, they said don't grade this yet
because this will balance out and you'll fill this hole when it's-no longer
1 needed in here. When the storm sewer system gets developed. So I just wanted
to tell you all that the property out there's going to look a lot better in the
future when the storm sewer goes in than it does right now. We've had to do
some temporary measures out there. I guess there's a lot of other points I 1
II could go into but I'll try to wind this up for you. When you leave tonight, I'd
encourage all of you to drive downtown on your street going down towards Pauly's
and that way and you'll see that every business downtown is literally located on
a corner with full access. If you'll notice the length of the buildings from
that little strip center where Brooks is, they're on a corner so they have a
full turn movement. Medical Clinic. You go on the other side of the street,
the motel. Every business downtown. The lots are wide enough or whatever. The
I street was designed with those businesses in mind. They all have full access
and we're being denied that out here. So I'm being asked from this feasibility
report to pay $372,837.00 in assessments in addition to the $129,885.00 in -
II assessments that are already incurred on the property. $228,000.00 of this half
a million dollars is for the street. I don't feel that the way the street is
designed that it's in our best interest to spend that kind of money. So I guess
for all the reasons that I've tried to ennumerate here this evening, I guess I
would ask that this feasibilty study be tabled until such time as the access
issues can be resolved with the staff and your consulting engineers. We have
labored in good faith for 3 years on this assuming that things were going to be
1 one way and this is sort of a bottom of the 9th inning change for us so thank
you very much.
II Mayor Chmiel: Thank you. 2 outs and 2 strikes and 3 balls.
Don Ashworth: Do you wish to have me respond?
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
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Mayor Chmiel: Yeah. Maybe I'd like, I asked Don if he would proably respond to
some of this as well because he's aware as to most of the things that have
transpired in that particular area. Don.
Don Ashworth: Tabling action is probably a good idea. But to go back a little
bit in history, after the completion of the downtown and the amount of traffic
we were looking at with the presentation of what became known as Market Square
Development, a number of good questions were put out on the table in terms of
will this roadway handle the volume of traffic that's anticipated for the
• downtown, and will the existing street function? In that process we employed
Strgar and asked them those questions. It was their position that the street as
it had been laid out by BRW using the then current traffic projections would not
function. And in fact that the divided condition .should be strongly considered '
and that a portion of the existing roadway, at least as it would go by the
Market Square development, should be widened in that area as well. After
completion of the Strgar analysis, which has been within let's say the last 6
months, we have attempted a number of sessions to get public input. We went
back to the Chamber. We did Alive at 5. Each one of those sessions we brought
Strgar in attempting to present their findings and why it would appears as
though that a change in the plans would be necessary. I again apologize if Mr.
James was not a part of those but there wasn't any conscience decision not to
include them. In fact just the opposite by going back to businesses we were
trying to take and get their input. If we could take but just a moment to
review why Strgar had come back with the recommendations that they had in
regards to the roadway, I think that that would be helpful. ''Before I ask Denny
Eyler Co do that, we should note that not all of the businesses within the
downtown have the turning points that Charlie had referred to. I think the
Medical Clinic is an example where you go down to the Kenny's area and come in
or adjacent to the Riveria but in either case there's cross or reciprocal
easements that exist allowing them to gain that access. In that particular area
we're talking about a right -in /right -out for their facility. Very much as the
Riveria has. If you want to approach the Riveria from the westerly side, you're
actually going through a reciprocal easement across the Brooks property. And so
I don't think that right out driveways have been ruled out of this project which
may help the very end lot. And I don't think that we have ruled out, and in
fact I think we would strongly encourage again reciprocal easements that Mr.
James would literally put against himself or against his own property to gain
access. With that Dennis, could you go through your recommendation to the HRA
from 2 or 3 months ago?
Dennis Eyler: Yes Don. When we looked at the traffic numbers that were
forecasted with the proposed development along West 78th Street, and some of the
problems that existed along the pre- construction courses in...we came to the 11 conclusion, and this is also based on experience with similar roadways in other
areas. Not just ours but experience gained by traffic engineers throughout the
country, that when you get volumes of this nature with the large number of
turns, that a 5 lane roadway of some sort would be much better than a 4 lane
undivided roadway. And we looked at a couple of options with the 5 lane roadway
and I'll have to dig through my transparencies here and see if I can. This is
kind of a typical section that shows what's out there today on the eastern end
of the 48 foot roadway and in some areas are a left turn lane leaving you a
narrow median similiar to what Jim was talking abou -t earlier and we proposed a
widening that would be in a range of 72 to 78 feet, depending on what the median
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
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treatment would be and the existing right -of -way that's been platted is 80 feet.
So that just barely fits within the existing right -of -way that's been platted.
1
I've got another slide here that shows more of a top down view of the
different...we looked at. Perhaps I didn't bring that along with me. We did
look at the 5 lane undivided roadway and the center left turn... Starting with
I the 2 lane roadway and then going to the 3 lane roadway. Essentially what you
have in the eastern end of 78th Street today...just being painted and this is
actually a raised median... Alternative to that would have been a 3 lane
' undivided roadway with two way left turn lanes. What was originally proposed
were the 4 lane roadway and the problem with the 4 lane roadway is that when you
have a lot of left turns, which you will have with a lot of driveways and a lot
of access points, you virtually lose the use of the inside lane, plus you have
1 the problem that if you do have lined up driveways, and lining up the driveways
is a good overall feature, you would have left turns being made simultaneously
in the two driveways and the view of oncoming traffic from one left turn would
' block off the other left turn. So the obvious solution to that is to go to a 5
lane roadway so you can get the left turns facing each other and they can see by
and find gaps in ongoing traffic. The alternative we looked at there were 5
lanes undivided or 5 lanes divided with the raised median. And national
II accident statistics prove that this design is safer than this and the 5 lane
with a raised median is much safer than that. So staff's recommendation was
that we look at a 5 lane option. At that time we were given some direction as
far as the access location but it was our understanding that that wouldn't be
decided. And we did take a look at what it would take to provide, additional
access points, at least on kind of an informal basis. Including the idea of
I providing an access point here and we had some problems with the center lane.
We said we were going to try to provide a full access at this location, keeping
the same section within the 80 feet right -of -way. We would be forced to try to
get end to end left turn lanes in 300 feet. Well allowing for even a 5 to 1
1 taper in the middle, that would mean that you'd have only about 100 foot turn
lanes length on each end available for separate turn lanes in that scenario.
The 100 foot turn lane would not be adequate to handle the left turn out onto
1 Powers with the full development. The only alternative would be to look at
essentially a 6 lane section in here where you'd have a left turn lane for
eastbound and left turn lane for westbound side by side. Now that had some
ramifications for right -of -way because now you're talking about a roadway that's
over 80 feet wide and exceeds the existing right -of -way and then there's a
question of how you transition that back into this area. That we were not
directed to develop that any further at that time. As far as making U turns and
getting into properties that would not have median openings, by having the 2
lanes in each direction plus the turn slots, the roadway would be wide enough
for automobiles to make U turns. Unlike the existing roadway that's on the east
end of 78th Street. There is only one lane to turn into. There's not quite
.enough width there to make U turns. U turns at intersections are legal in
Minnesota unless signed otherwise. With that I think I'll answer any
questions.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay.
Dennis Eyler: ...but they're not free. I mean there's going to have to be some
trade offs for those... There's also issues about developing the landscaping.
1
1 10
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Mayor Chmiel: One of the questions that I have immediately is, when we looked
at this, did we review any of the commitments that we had done previously such
as Mr. James has brought out back in '87 and '88?
Dennis Eyler: The direction we were given by staff was not that specific. I
guess that's the way I look at it. I wasn't part of the meeting that was held
this morning so, I've been under the weather and kind of.in and out of the
office. I wouldn't say I drug myself out of bed to come here tonight but I've
felt better, let's put it that way. So I wasn't at this morning's meeting so I
can't speak to what was discussed there. '
Mayor Chmiel: With the 5 lanes, would that be sufficient as far as the road
right -of -way with the 80 feet? Would that be workable within that 80 feet? The
5 lanes.
Dennis Eyler: It is with the stipulation that the sidewalks and the landscaping
items are put on some sort of easement rather than in...right -of -way. The
roadway itself takes up virtually all of the 80 feet...
Mayor Chmiel: I think Mr. James indicated too that he'd be willing to provide
some additional right -of -way. I guess my own feeling is right now is I'd like
to have us, at least my opinion is to sit down with staff and Mr. James and
reach a conclusion as to what can be done and what can't be done. My only
concerns are is to keep it within the cost frames that we're already looking and
as we're looking right now at approximately $1,920,000.00 totally for the
general obligation amount as well as the assessable amounts. And with that I'l
throw it open. Ursula. ,
Councilwoman Dimler: I guess my question was too that I would like to see the
Burdick's involved in that in the fact that maybe their, I wondered if their
property lines on those lots are still valid or if they have been final plotted.
Brian Burdick: Our property lines there are as they're shown on the drawing in
final plat.
Councilwoman Dimler: Those are final?
Brian Burdick: Yes.
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay. And how about Mr. James, are your's final too? 1
Charlie James: They're in final plat...as far as the developer...
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay, so there's not much room for movement there? '
Charlie James: I could give you a little insight on that if you'd like. I
don't want to belabor this but one of the things that we were suggesting is that
originally this driveway that we had here was going to be in this point. Under
this plan it's moved it down and so one of the things we could do is we could
probably live with this and I'm sure, well I can't speak for Brian and his
father but my thought was that when I saw a ruler today, if we just extended
this lot line down to here instead of breaking it like that, it would come to
the center like of the driveway. And Don, I have to take a little bit at issue
11
'City 'Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
with you I'm afraid. The first I ever heard about this was I got this faxed to
' me and when I saw that this was in the works and so I wrote correspondence to
the city here and there was no come to a meeting or no do anything. There was
no announcement about anything. I wrote a letter to the city and attached all
•
these exhibits and explained what had happened in the past and on and on and on
and so what I got back was a drawing. Anyway I got back a drawing that .
basically reinstated what we have before and showed the double turn lanes.
Downtown, if you look at the Riveria, we did try to share these driveways so
1 when you got, you've got like the Medical Clinic here and here's a parking lot
and then here's what is it, Kenny's over here and then... The point is that
these people can make full turn movements into, at these points and I guess
that's what we were trying to accomplish down here too by sharing the driveways.
I guess the only thing that might come up in the future that I'd like to just
make the Council aware of at this point is I'm perfectly willing to increase the
width of the right -of -way but I want to explain one other constraint that we've
1 got. The sand kind of shifted under us again here. When we did our grading
plan there, there was a 50 foot setback between commercial and residential and
again there was I think a 50 foot setback between the multi- family and
1 commercial. So what we did was when we developed our grading plan, we put the
property line in the middle of the slope figuring we could utilize that green
area. So when you were looking at the property from the front you'd see the
front of these buildings and behind it you'd see a 100 foot wide swath of green
and then up above that would be the multi - family. So I guess when the Super
America store went in on TH 7 and TH 41, there was some objection or something
so they changed the setback rules now. Yeah. So if we increase the right-of-
way here, the only problem that I might have is meeting some of these setback
requirements from the street because these lots could get too narrow. That's
why I'll dedicate, either dedicate the right -of -way and we have some kind of an
' agreement about looking at these setback things when we come in with a specific
proposal, or else we could do it in the form of an easement so that I get credit
out to the property line. Do you follow me? That's the only I guess drawback
of creating additional right -of -way. But I guess I'd just like the opportunity
to work with staff on this. I don't want to see anybody get hurt out here. I
don't want to see any accidents. I want this to be a nice entrance to
Chanhassen, just like I'm sure you do. I'd just like the chance to work with
1 you on it.
Councilwoman Dimle.r: Thank you. Also I wanted to ask Paul, that lowland there,
•
' is that going to be considered a wetland and do we need to apply all that stuff
we've been talking about to that particular area? It's a utility so it would
not be? So there won't be any problems for Mr. James as far as development
there?
1 . Paul Krauss: I'm not aware of how that was raised when Charlie came in 3 -4
years ago but we'd have to look into that. There's no new ones. There's no new
issues being generated.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay, is there any other discussion?
' Councilwoman Dimier: My last question was, when we redo this here, there's
going to be an old segment of West 78th Street that's going to be left.' Is
there any plans to upgrade that or beautify that or do anything with that at
all? This plan doesn't seem to address that.
1 12
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
•
Charles Folch: The...has been discussed previously amongst the property owners
that it was their desire to see or to have that existing right -of -way vacated
such that part of it will be constructed...that's there now. Given that the
access off of CR 17 will likely be the right -in /right -out movement.
E 1
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay. So that's no longer a city street then or that
segment will be?
Charles Folch: At such time that the vacation takes place. 1
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay. And I guess then my comment would be that I think
that Mr. James' appears to have worked really hard with the former city staff
and present staff as well and also with the neighboring property in trying to
come up with what's fair to all and I think I would favor tabling this. But I
also would like to see that the Burdick's are included in the negotiations if it
affects them in any way.
Mayor Chmiel: Richard, do you have any comments?
Councilman Wing: I think the entire detachment proposal really isn't ready for
Council and I don't have anything to discuss. I'd like to see it redefined and
refined and then re- represented at a later date so I favor table also. 1
Councilman Workman: No, I think we only have one option and that's to, I
remember, the one thing I remember is Charlie James being very cooperative and
this is kind of a shock to me that you don't know more about it and so if nobody
apologizes to you tonight for anything else, I'll do so. This detachment has
I been a lot of fun and 4 years I'll be on the Council, it will probably be around
4 more. 1
Councilman Mason: It sounds like it needs to be tabled.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay. Can I have a motion to have this tabled and brought back
to Council at the next meeting? Is there an urgency with this because of TH 5
construction Charles?
Charles Folch: No. The time line we're working with right now is basically...
Mayor Chmiel: Okay. So we have the time.
Councilwoman Dimler: I move tabling.
Councilman Workman: Second. 1
Councilwoman Dimler moved, Councilman Workman seconded to table the public
hearing on the supplemental report to the feasibility study for West 78th Street
Detachment Improvement Project 92 -3. All voted in favor and the motion carried
unanimously.
1
1
13 1
1
, City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
II PUBLIC HEARING: FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR TRUNK UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS TO THE UPPER
BLUFF CREEK AREA; AUTHORIZE PREPARATION OF PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS. PROJECT NO.
II 91 -17.
Public Present:
II Name Address
Ronald & Carol Entinger 8851 Audubon Road
I Henry Wrase 8175 Hazeltine Blvd.
Conrad Fiskness 8033 Cheyenne Avenue
Al Klingelhutz 8600 Great Plains Blvd.
II Earl Halasek
Wilmer Molnau 8610 Galpin Blvd.
8541 Audubon Road
James R. Hill 2400 CR 42, Burnsville
II Betty & Larry VanDeVeire 4980 CR 10E, Chaska
Michael Klingelhutz 8601 Great Plains Blvd.
Gary Harkey 3471 W. 173rd, Jordan
Hans Hagen 941 Hillwind Road, Minneapolis
' Doug Barinsky 8731 Audubon
Don Patton Lake Susan Hills West Partnership
Tom & Marion Michel 8941 Audubon Road
II Dave Stockdale 7210 Galpin Road
Charles Folch: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council. The project consultant
engineer Mr. Bob Schunicht is here tonight to give a presentation on the
II x feasibility study. If there are those of you tonight that are here on this
particular item, we do have handouts that follow some of the information that
will be provided on the overheads. If you raise you hands I can have Phil pass
I those out for you.
Bob Schunicht: In 1991 the city of Chanhassen...2,800 acres of land to it's
II urban service area and much of this land is in the western part of the city
between Lyman Blvd. on the south, Audubon on the east and TH 41 on the west
going up to this development... So at the time this was added, the city also
II aut horized the study to take a look at the sanitary sewer and watermain that
were necessary to serve both this area and the whole rest of the city. So the
studies that were just recently completed dealt with 3 things. First of all,
was what is the sanitary sewer and watermain system... How much does it cost
and how should we pay. And the answer to how should we pay...uniform assessment
II citywide or...based on a uniform citywide cost. So those are the results of
that overall study. Now at the same time the studies were done, the city
received petitions for improvements for the southern portion of this new urban
l area and basically that's what we're here to talk about tonight. ...trunk
sanitary sewer and watermain for the southern portion of that new urbanized
area. So basically what we're looking at is the area between Lyman Blvd. on the
11 south, TH 5 on the north, approximately Audubon Road here and then going over to
the western city limits all the way over to the Arboretum. And the study area
was initiated by a petition. And this lightly shaded area in orange represents
II the property...55% of the land mass in the project area that petitioned for.
improvements that we're going to be discussing tonight. Now taking a look at
the sanitary sewer system, again we're looking at Lyman Blvd. on the south,
TH 5, Audubon Road here and TH 41 over here. The main feature of the sanitary
II
14
II
11
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
sewer system is their lift station located in the vicinity of Lyman Blvd. and
Audubon Road. Basically that lift station will take the waste water from most
of the western portion of the city of Chanhassen and pump it in a designated '
gravity sewer along Audubon. Gravity sewer along future West Lake Drive into
something called the existing Lake Ann sewer. SO the lift station is taking all
the flow from the system that it brings to it, pumping it over to an existing
system and flows down through Eden Prairie over across the river...treatment
plant. So that's the sanitary sewer system. The watermain system again looking
at this map which is a little bit different scale than...has to go a little bit
further to the north, but here this to get you oriented. This is Lyman Blvd. on
the south, TH 5 here, Galpin and TH 41. Existing well up here by Lake Ann. For
the first phase of the watermain improvements, which is a watermain down in this
area. I did neglect to mention, we were talking about sanitary sewers, this
is...so for discussion purposes we divided it into two phases. Phase 1 being
basically south of the railroad and Phase 2 being north of the railroad. I'd
like to point out that that's an arbitrary phase line for discussion purposes.
We can change that...but for discussion purposes tonight, Phase 1 and Phase 2
are the railroad. Phase 1 of the watermain...to serve that Phase 1 area south
of the railroad. As we get into Phase 2, then we have to bring a line from the
existing...down Galpin and along the roadway system that you see in the area so
Phase 2 watermain gets a little bit more expensive... Also I'd like to point
out that the future reservoir shown at TH 41...development of the area. We
looked at the cost of the improvements and if you see on your handout, and we
have also a part of this...but basically we're looking at dividing into two
phases the total sanitary sewer cost of $2.86 million dollar. Watermain about
$2.37 million dollars of the total cost to about $5.2 million dollars. As I
mentioned earlier, the proposal, the census...citywide assessment policy based
• f on for trunk sanitary sewer, $970.00 per residential equivalent unit and for the
watermain... Looking at how those assessments affect the property out there,
again the brown or orange area is the project area. The sanitary sewer base map
which is shown here. The proposal is to assess everybody in the pocket area
with the exception of the recently platted large lot single family...shown on
the previous slide. And we've shown, as I mentioned, Phase 1. The Phase 1 and
Phase 2 construction at it's present time is right now but Phase 1 improvements
are very expensive. They got to put a lift station in to get the sanitary sewer
all the way over to the Lake Ann trunk. The Phase 1 assessment boundary is
including two pieces of property north of the railroad. One is being proposed
by Hans Hagen on this property over here just east of the McGlynn's property.
So this is the assessment boundary... One of the things we took a look at is -
green acres. Green acres being when a property's on green acres it means that
it cannot be actively assessed for utility improvements. If you take a look at
green acres, you'll see some of the parcels have green acres on it. There's two
of the parcels that petitioned for the improvements that have green acres on
. them. The Rod Grams property and the Hans Hagen property. If we take a look at
the green acres and take a look at the revenue versus the cost within this area
for Phase 1. If we assume that the properties that have petitioned for
improvements come off of green acres, then we've got enough revenue within 2% of
our projections to pay for the Phase 1 improvements. And then it would be
similar things on Phase 2 because there's...green acres in Phase 2 so from
looking at it and looking at the assessments and revenues based on these two
properties coming off with the development, that green acres should not have a
significant affect on the city's ability to finance it. So with that I'd like
- r
15
•
-- - -- -_ -- - _ - 1
.City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
to turn the hearing back to Mayor Chmiel for any questions from the Council or
from the audience.
11 Mayor Chmiel: Very good. Anyone from the audience that would like to come
forward and indicate your concerns. Please state your name and your address and
what your question is.
Marion Michel: I'm Marion Michel and I'm on 8941 Audubon Road. I didn't
understand what he said about green acres exactly so I'm just going to go ahead
with what I have planned to say. Okay? Alright, I come to appeal to some
people that have roots and know what the feeling of roots are. My grandparents
cleared the property that I'm on and I was born there. After a time I came back
and bought the place and I also hope to appeal to people that have historic
feelings to save some of the old beautiful homes around here which one I have.
I hope to keep it historical. I haven't done much inside. It still has the old
11 sink, the old claw bathtub and windmill water. I know I'm supposed to role with
the flow but I just don't want to. I hope someday, there will be no way I can
come up with $22,000.00. I thought I was ready for this but I guess I'm not.
Mayor Chmiel: That's alright. Just take your time.
Marion Michel: If there's a deferment somehow where it only costs very little
money, maybe I can do it. But I'm on a fixed income and I cannot. I hope that
I can keep this place and possibly my grandson can come after me. They love it.
They love the fishing. They love Minnesota, even though they'refrom
California. If you've driven by the place, it's on the end of Audubon and
Lyman. If you're familiar with it. The shed is going to fall any time. But
the house is still charming. I do not plan on making a bed and breakfast. I
just want to keep it like it is. I couldn't possibly do it anyway, it's too
I costly. I hope, I do not want a new house. Somebody says that's simple, just .
go build a new house. I don't want a new house. My only reason to be here in
Minnesota is to live in this place and I hope I can stay there. As long as
I can get out there and mow the lawn and plant my flowers and watch the trees
grow, it as.... nt:, r f ,,. 1 hated to give it up .but I couldn't possibly hold 105
acres. I have lovey neighbors and I'm happy for that but for me to put 10
houses on that property would positively it's historic charm and you would
devour the house, which you are going to do with the other beautiful houses up
on that road. What the others do is their business but I hate to even see them -
go. Thank you.
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you.
II Councilman Wing: Could I just clarify that? In every situation like this that
I've been on this Council in the last year, these really haven't been an issue.
We haven't forced development. We haven't forced sale. Residents such as this
we've, at least in my year on the Council we've given them a single assessment
II until development. Is that what we're looking at here? Are we in that
condition now, that situation now? In fact are her concerns not?
Don Ashworth: I have to believe that there are a number of solutions available
so we don't have to drive a lady like this off of her property. You're exactly
right. We've not done that in the past and I know of no reason that we're going
11 to start doing it currently. Did you wish to?
16
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
•
Mayor Chmiel: No, I think you probably explained it.
Councilman Wing: So it might preclude some others that are concerned if we have
these type of individual homeowners who are looking at single assessments until
development time. Is that what your intent is Don?
Don Ashworth: Bob, would you go through the response to that question? ,
Bob Schunicht: I'd just like, a couple things I'd like to mention about
Mrs. Mitchell is it?
Mayor Chmiel: Michel.
Bob Schunicht: Is talking about as far as the...green acres so that's one
thing. There are, the parcels that you mentioned...as far as single
assessments. There are 11 of those that we can count on here. We can look at
that fit in that category. ...again we're talking about major property owners
are asking for the improvements. They're not going to affect those other
parcels, the small parcels... Again you're talking about, I mentioned that we
were within 2%. If you assess all those parcels, assessed all those parcels the
way...talked about, you'd be 2'c above the revenues...so the estimates are even
that close so it doesn't have a major effect on the city... Does that answer
your question?
Mayor Chmiel: Right. Being that it is green acres. Until she develops her
property, that's when that assessment becomes due.
•
Councilwoman Dimler: Bob, just for clarification. The $22,450.00 is for all
5.1 acres right? 5.01.
Bob Schunicht: The way...take a look at "each individual parcel. Determine what
was wetland and what was buildable area and then assign that area to that and
then I think...units per acres and that's the units that we talk about. 1
Councilman Wing: But she's really looking at about $2,245.00 then?
Bob Schunicht: That will be the full assessment, expected assessment for that 1
property.
Councilman Wing: $2,200.00 ?. 1
Bob Schunicht: Yeah.
Councilwoman Dimler: So if we go with the one unit now, what would that be t
about?
Bob Schunicht: That would be the $970.00 for sewer and $1,275.00 for water so
about $2,200.00.
•
Councilwoman Dimler: Oh okay. So it doesn't change. 1
Mayor Chmiel: Yeah. That's right.
17
'City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
Wayne Bongard: I'm Wayne Bongard and I'm neighbors to this nice lady. I have a
couple concerns. One is I live as well along Audubon Road. I think it's a * of
a place to live. Why do we have all these exemptions in that particular area?
They're landowners. We've got 5-or 6, 5 -10 acre parcels so on and so forth and
they're going to assess all these landowners, myself included. We happen to
' have 5 acres or 8 acres or 10 acres and we're going to get assessed. Gosh,
somebody's going to put 10 homes on this or 15 homes and you're going to be
assessed 20- 25- 30 -35- 40,000 dollars. In my particular case, it's going to be
kind of an expensive development because they're going to have to push a house
down. They're going to have to push a barn down. The barn building and
whatever. That's okay. I'd be more than happy to let somebody do that. Come
on up. Bring your dozers in but just write the check in advance. I don't think
II that's going to happen. I don't think any of these people bought that real
estate and that acreage with that in mind. However, if we've got a hungry
developer, boy send them up here. We'll negotiate that and we'll make it
' happen. And then you guys can get 10 times $2,200.00 - $2,300.00 in assessment
for your sewer and water. But until that happens, you're going to have a tough
time getting it up on that end of town. What I'm concerned about as well, why
do we have this exempt, this large exempt area over here? I think we've got
20 -30 -40 homes over there. We've got a bunch of homes over here. They don't
need sewer and water because they've got a well? They've got a drainage system.
They got what. Why is that exempt I would like to know? The other thing I
' would like to tell you is that I also understand why the sewer system is coming
in. Because we need industry and we need development and we need to cooperate
with that to enhance our community and that's the industrial property to the
west of Audubon. I happen to be involved in a little bit of it. Have a little
privy information to what may happen and if you really need to do this, and
I understand we need to do it, then let's charge it to the ** industrial park.
If they can't afford, if we can't. If I can't afford to pay another $200,000.00
to get sewer and water into that area, or Ryan Development or whoever the * it
is, if we can't afford another couple hundred thousand dollars without getting
on somebody's landowners, homeowners and we've got to tax them $20,000.00, or
1 - assess them 20- 30- 40,000 dollars, we're not doing our jobs guys. You know,
come on. Hit me one more time. Hit industry one more time. We're good at
that. We take it but leave the poor SOB that's living there, leave them alone.
Put it where it belongs. Rod Grams. I know well. I know what he intends to
do. Hey, if some poor bugger has to pay, if he's going to raise his lot price
by 3 -4 -500 bucks to cover 30 lots, raise it. ...which I'm part of, and Ryan
' Development, if we've got to raise it, the lot price $10,000.00, so be it.
That's not going to chase the industrialist away. That's not going to chase the
person that really wants to be out here. But what you're going to do is you're
going to hurt a whole bunch of people and you're going to get a black eye as a
II result of it so I really think we should look at that. Run the sewer by. Tap
me. Tap all these other people for one hook -up. And we've got somebody, if any
of you people want to come up and develop that property, belly up to the bar.
Buy the land, the sewer's running by, run the T off and then you pay it. That's
really how it should work guys, in my estimation. So if we go down this road,
we exempt all these various different people and you keep after these 5 people
along Audubon Road I can assure you, we're going to have a * of a fight. I'm
II done. Thank you very much for your time.
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you. Anyone else?
18
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Doug Barinsky: Good evening. I'm Doug Barinsky at 8731 Audubon. I have the
other green acres parcel there on the east side. It just amazes me to, it seems
like every time there's something'going on in our direction we end up having to
appear in front of the City Council. I guess it's been fun a little bit but
this is about the third time for me in 3 years and this one really disappoints
me when we see the kind of stress that we have to put somebody like Mrs. Michel
through. 5 years ago when I moved out there it was for the interition of living
there. To have a house and a barn and a couple acres and horses for my kids.
About 1 1/2 years ago we sat through the meetings in this very room on the MUSA
line and the land use plan and on more than one occasion during those meetings
the question of assessments and taxes were brought up by many of us concerned
property owners that lived out in that area. Several times also during that it
was responded by both City and County officials that the change of status out
there would not impact us unless we decided to develop. If we want to replay
the tapes that we make, I think you can go back and find out who made those
statements. I am one of the 5 property owners on that east side and we think
that it's a form of economic greenmail to see what's being proposed and the lack
of sensitivity with the city planners in this regard. Somebody decided that
unless these 5 people on this side of the road out there were going to make an
issue out of it, they could just ante up for 25- 30- 40,000 dollars. My own share
is to be $38,000.00 if this is approved and I just have to accept it and plan to
move and develop which obviously hasn't been my plan in the nearby or I'm going
to pay a $38,000.00 premium for the right to continue to live there. It's my
understanding just because I have green acres that yes, that qualifies me for a
deferment but that kind of assessment still rides over my title and if I decided
to sell that to a similiar owner who wanted to use it the way I have, that'd
have to be paid up. So it's a bit misleading to tell Mrs. Michels that yeah, 1
just defer it and everything will be fine. I propose that the 5 properties on
the east side of Audubon be allowed to participate in this project on an
individual basis. If they do want to develop, now or later, they can be
assessed along these plans. If at this time they don't want to develop but they
feel they have a need for city sewer and water service, allow them to take the
one tie in. I may elect to do that. I think that might be my best option. But
if they also have satisfactory water and sewer and have a new system that's been
put in, I don't even understand why they should get the one assessment at this
point in time. I guess as a close, I don't think we should be forced to
subsidize the actual development costs as Wayne was indicating on the west side.
I can appreciate their petition. If I was in the development business, this is
exactly what I would want to do if I was one of the owners but as a homeowner
wanting to live there, -I don't think that this is right. What you're planning
to do and I hope we can get consideration out of the Council. Thank you.
Mayor Chmiel: Thanks. Anyone else?
Ron Entinger: Good evening. My name is Ron Entinger. I live at 8851 Audubon
Road. I'm just to the east of the Michel's area. I have 10 acres and I'm not
under the green acres deal. I had that removed approximately 2 years ago and
I guess I didn't fight it. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but
apparently it's looking like I should have at the time now. I know there was a
meeting earlier and I was, I got the mailing out and on it it said it included
the area west of Audubon Road so I. filed it away thinking that didn't include me
but I guess it does now when the second paper comes out and it says the area
adjacent to and west of Audubon Road. And it was Michel's that found out that
19
- - _ -_ - • - - - - -- - - -- - - - i
•
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
hey, we're all included and that's hqw we found out about it. I guess my thing
too is that if in the main reason for the sewer and water needed out there is
for the industrial and say commercial development and the development west of
Audubon Road, I believe it's just fair that they should pay for it. What you're
' doing is taking my 10 acres, where I built a home 3 years ago. I have no choice
at $31,000.00 is my assessment, I'd have to bulldoze the house. Divide it up
and get rid of it and I'm not prepared to do that. I built the house with the
intentions of having some type of green area around it. I planted probably 750
I trees in the last 3 years and that would be just 25 left if it gets divided into
14 lots like is planned. And I guess I'm in the same position where if it has
to be an assessment of one, I can see that. I have no need for it. I'd be
' buying something I don't even need. I have my own well. I have my own sewer
just as the exempt areas do to the west of us. My other question I have is
concerning my property abuts to the bottom of Lyman Blvd. where there's a future
watermain and a future sewer going in down there. What you're doing is if
I were to develop my property is you have to take the sewer and water across a
driveway easement about twice as far to go to the sewer and water where it is
now. Whereas south of my property it runs right up to it and I'd find in the
' future if that would come up, I'd like to be considered in the future but not
now. Thank you.
' Councilman Workman: Didn't the staff report state that there would be just one
trunk for those east? In the middle paragraph doesn't it say specifically, and
again a lot of other questions but isn't that what it's saying? .But it is
saying deferring the rest. Is that what it's saying?
I x Don Ashworth: Charles, I guess I would look to you. It would be my
understanding that yes. We would only be assessing one but that if development
would occur in the future, here is the maximum number of units that could go
against the property.
Councilman Workman: Is it considered a deferment though?
' Don Ashworth: As far as the assessment clock ,
9 oing no. I mean as far as the
accumlative interest going on top of it, no.
II Ron Entinger: Your option is to defer it with or without...
•
II Don Ashworth: I believe the concept was one in which we were trying to
establish kind of a constant unit charge basis for really all of the properties
within that whole area, including north of TH 5 as well. That based on those
II number of units that would be the charge back to those properties at this point
in time. We would not automatically escalate that but as time went on, if the
unit charge for the rest of the city rose from $1,200.00 to $1,400.00, it
potentially could affect those owners if they developed 5 or 10 years from now.
II Correct?
Charles Folch: That's correct...
II Wayne Bongard: Question. If the sewer comes by and if we agree, and I'm saying
if we agree, everybody accepts one hook -up, that means we have for all practical
II purposes, city water and sewer to the 7 acres. Now Carver County, State of
Minnesota is not a friendly tax environment. I can see the County saying well,
20
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
geez are you lucky Mr. Bongard. You're only paying 13 rand now but you've got
Y Y 9 Y P Y 9 9 Y 9 t
city water and sewer and you've got a hook up here. God, that property must be
} worth xxx and then the property goes or the taxes go up to 15, 17, 18, who the
* knows where it stops. But in reality isn't that kind of how it works? You
know you raise the value because you've got sewer and water running by and for
sure if you pay for an access, then boy you've really... There's a T here and
by gosh whether you plan on developing or don't developing it, I guess I really
don't care. This is not an argumentive thing. This is from a sensible
standpoint. What do you think would happen? ...would say by golly, are you
lucky and are we lucky.
Don Ashworth: Not immediately.
Wayne Bongard: No, not immediately, right. Give them a year or two. Ursula
you know and I thinl, you also know there's a high probability that that could
happen but I think our position is, run it down Audubon Road. We don't give a
darn but if you start nailing us for 13 spots, 15 spots, all spots, 5 years from
now, 10 years from now, which I think I heard, depending on language...ain't
going to put up with it. Unless you get all these exempt people in here that
have sewer and water and well and all those other things.
Don Ashworth: At one point in time all of the properties that are here were
valued at $2,000.00, $2,500.00 per acre. At the time that you purchased. '
Wayne Bongard: Al liked to sell them for $8,000.00 to $10,000.00. I think most
of us paid that much...
Don Ashworth: You recognize that the value of the property was increasing. In
the years that you purchased, you recognize that the value of the property was
increasing. You probably paid 8, 10 or $12,000.00 an acre. At some point in
time you know that property will be valued potentially.
Wayne Bongard: ...now for 100 grand. '
Don Ashworth: But the sewer and water I don't see where that's going to have
any.
Wayne Bongard: We're messing with insignificants here. What's important is
what's going to happen now in the lifetime of the people living there and leave
them be comfortable. Let's let well enough alone. Let these people be
comfortable. Charge us on one hand $2,500.0a and call it done.
Mayor Chmiel: We have a few other people who would like to make some comments.
Councilman Wing: Mr. Mayor, could I just briefly? Every comment so far has
been based on concern for my 5, 10, 15 acres. The staff report we have
recommends single unit charges of $2,245.00. This Council has never forced
development. We have never forced the loss or sale of lane. They don't
encourage development if it means those occurrences. As a matter of fact, I
think the impact on my neighbors at the west end has been negative. And it's my
understanding and I will just speak for the Council, I believe it's our intent
to probably favor one unit charge per resident until such time that it would
develop and that's included in these costs so rather than keep listening to
21
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
these same comments, I think these people can feel somewhat comfortable and
you'll have to support this position.
Mayor Chmiel: Right.
' Councilman Wing: We're not coming after you for $22,000.00. At the very most
it's going to be a single unit charge and that has been debated here for hours
that that does add value to the property. You do have access and you're going
' to pay the $2,245.00 but you're not going to pay $22,000.00 until such time as
you decide to plat that, develop it and hook up the additional lots. So the
arguments are getting kind of, or the property is lost through debt. So the
comments tonight are kind of getting a little repetitious and either move on, if
there's any other problems.
Doug Barinsky: Can we ask one more question for clarification and then we'll
' get off of that issue? I just don't want any confusion. There seems to be some
about what the word deferred assessment means because this plan as written and
as fully explained to me by city staff, is not single at this point. The way
it's written it is for multi based on 13 to 17 lots and that's the way it's
' being presented right now and it's going to have to changed before it fits what
Mr. Wing is stating. We don't want to learn later that oh by the way, yeah we
only charged you for one unit. We deferred the other because it will hang over
our titles and we're also concerned about that. Thank you.
Don Patton: Mr. Mayor, Council. My name is Don Patton. You should have
I received a letter from the Lake Susan Hilis Partnership. Just to get the
topics. One of the other gentleman made the point that, didn't you get the
letter in your packet?
Mayor Chmiel: Yes.
Don Patton: In the original advertising it did state west of Audubon, north of
' Lyman, south of TH 5 and I think east of 4 and for that reason we didn't pay
attention to probably as early as we should. One of the reasons that we didn't
pay attention, as a part of developing the Third Addition for Lake Susan Hills,
the Third Addition for Lake Susan, we actually had to provide service west of
Audubon at the city's request thinking that that would take care of that cost
and access. And you see our request built into that. The other thing, in -
working with staff over the years, I wanted to just clarify one thing. In the
' trunk sanitary and trunk water cost. Those are shown as $970.00 and $1,275.00.
I think within the last three years those have been down around the 5 to 6 to
700. Have they been increased from this 6 to $1,200.00 level in the last year
II or so?
Bob Schunicht: They were raised...overall citywide system... Previously the
city did not have citywide...
' Don Patton: So this is a different fee then? There was a trunk fee, a lateral
fee but there will not be the access fee that have been charged in the past? Is
that correct?
Charles Folch: If a property pays a trunk assessment, let me go with the other
reversal. If a property is now assessed for a trunk benefit and some future
22
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992 -
1
point in time they subdivide the property and they come in for a hook -up, at
that time prior to the city's hook -up charge policy, we recover those charges
for a trunk assessment that was not paid previously. Similar analogous is on '
connection charge which if a lateral assessment has not been paid on a property
that develops...in the future when they come in for building permits, then you
collect the collection charge. Recover the cost for a lateral assessment that
you did not previously pay for. -
Don Patton: So it's not a double cost?
Charles Folch: No.
Don Patton: Mr. Mayor knows that I'm always looking for. 1
Mayor Chmiel: No, it shouldn't be a double cost.
Charles Folch: There is a trunk charge and a lateral charge but... 1
Don Patton: The other thing, the property, the Outlot A that I'm speaking of
which is designated by 2, as a part of the planning that we did with the city
back in 1987, the city required us to have that as a multi- family property. It
is not accessible and we would expect that to remain under green acres because
it can't be developed at this point. The partnership has paid dearly for a lot
of assessment to try to hang onto this land through the years. This includes,
for some of the new staff or for some of the new Council and•new staff, the
partnership dedicated all of the right -of -way for CR 17 at no cost to anyone.
Obviously it did help the development but it was also a real charge that was a
cost on that. But that will be green acres? Is that correct? And it will stay
because it is not accessible. Right?
Mayor Chmiel: Yes. Right.
Don Patton: Thank you.
Conrad Fiskness: Conrad Fiskness from Riley- Purgatory -Bluff Creek Watershed
District. A quick question with regard to the storm water planning for this
area. Would it be done under the umbrella of the storm water management plan
that you're working on? Would it be done prior to that? Subsequent? -
Charles Folch: It's being done as part of the storm water management... 1
Conrad Fiskness: As you may know I've been kind of on a one man crusade to look
at the handling of storm water along Bluff Creek. Bluff Creek is unique in that
'it has no bodies of water along it's course which means that as development
occurs, there's going to be a considerable amount of water that will be coming
into this stream bed and I've been encouraging that this be looked at in terms
of upland storage, water retention facilities along it's course before land gets
developed and opportunities to do some of these things are forever gone. I
just wish to make that point. Thank you.
Mayor Chmiel: Good. Thank you. Anyone else? Al. 1
1
23
1
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Al Klingelhutz: Mr. Holasek, Earl Holasek who owns the portion just north of
' the railroad tracks and west of Galpin Blvd. has asked me to speak for him. Is
that actually in the assessment area at the present time? We know it's under.
'
•
Bob Schunicht: This parcel right here?
Al Klingelhutz: Right.
11 Bob Schunicht: It's in the sanitary sewer assessment boundary. It's not in the
water assessment boundary. So your sewer assessment.
' Al Klingelhutz: Is that actually part of the Bluff Creek Watershed District or
is that the Hazeltine Watershed District?
Bob Schunicht: It's actually in, most of it drains toward Hazeltine...part of
the Hazeltine watershed. There are basically two options for that property
depending on the availability of capacity and access to sewer. It's possible
that that could go to Chaska but the cost of the system...shows the lift station
' for that property taking it into Chanhassen.
Al Klingelhutz: I know it's in, the land is in Chanhassen. Now Earl has been
there for many years and you probably all know he's in the greenhouse business.
What would be the total assessment against that property? What's the figure on
that?
Bob Schunicht: $140,000.00 sanitary sewer based on a total of 145 units. And
there's actually, the watermain would be about...
Al Klingelhutz: Earl's biggest concern is he has a farm down in Golden Valley
' and that's before the green acres thing was put in and he actually, him and his
folks were actually forced to sell out because of these tremendous assessments
on the property. Now you're saying there's about $180,000.00 on the sewer on
that property?
Bob Schunicht: $140,000.00 on the sewer and...
' Al Klingelhutz: On the water.
Mayor Chmiel: Yeah. A total of $325,000.00.
Al Klingelhutz: A total of $325,000.00. What have you got there Earl? 45 -50
acres?
Earl Holasek: We have 44 acres.
Mayor Chmiel: 44.06.
Earl Holasek: That's ridiculous because the water's going to the Hazeltine
Lake. Why would they want to pump it uphill the wrong way? That's stupid.
Bob Schunicht: The sanitary sewer that's.going to be pumped. The city_of
Chanhassen has a sanitary sewer and so does the city of Chaska. If you were in
the city of Chaska for example, you'd probably into their system. If you're
1
1 24 •
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
in Chanhassen, then there's a likelihood that you would go into Chanhassen
system although with Chanhassen and Chaska would be able to work out a deal
• where you can go into Chaska's system, that might happen. The charge with you
being the city of Chanhassen will still be the same though. $970.00 for
sanitary sewer and $1,275.00 for water because that's probably in the city of
Chanhassen. '
Earl Holasek: You know this is farmland yet. There's no way in * a guy could
farm that kind of land.
Councilman Wing: Is this one of the parcels, the 11 parcels that's?
Bob Schunicht: No. It's a parcel that's on green acres but it is a large
parcel. The 11 parcels that we're talking about is the parcels that's shown in
orange on this map... Some of the parcels are double because they're under 10
acres but they're... ,
Councilman Workman: You're talking about a sanitary sewer charge. He might be
thinking of a storm sewer, correct?
Bob Schunicht: Yeah, there's no storm sewer charge as a part of this but I
think what he's saying is the natural drainage for the property goes into
Chaska. When Chaska gets their treatment plant problems worked out...and sewer
capacity, it's likely that Chanhassen's staff and Chaska's staff will be talking
about a project where that may go into Chaska. But whether it goes into Chaska
or Chanhassen...the ultimate charge that they see are the...
Councilman Workman: There's nothing that's related to a sanitary sewer that's
going into Lake Hazeltine I hope.
Bob Schunicht: No. ...says the water runs.
Councilwoman Dimler: I think we're past that stage. 1
Al Klingelhutz: Well a gravity flow sewer line would run towards Hazeltine and
into Chaska. A lift station could take care of the property in Chanhassen. I
guess Earl's biggest concern, and probably the same concern I had 2 weeks ago,
is $140,000.00 assessment against 44 acres of land, what will be done on that
assessment because it's in green acres? Will the charge per unit on that be,
what is the sewer assessment? 1
Bob Schunicht: $970.00.
Al Klingelhutz: $975.00 per unit. Stay without interest and only be increased 1
by inflation?
Mayor Chmiel: I was talking and I wasn't listening Al. What was that you said
regarding inflation?
Al Klingelhutz: Well he's got $140,000.00 worth of assessments on the property
now and if that property because it's in green acres, stayed in the same service
and use it's in at the present time, that $140,000.00 would not be added to with
interest. But the possibility of the charge on that could increase if the
25
City•Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
overall city sewer plan would increase from $925.00 to $1,200.00. Is that the
way it's going to be figured on that?
Mayor Chmiel: Yeah.
11 Al Klingelhutz: Earl, if you ever want to sell that property, I'm talking to
Earl now to satisfy what he...
Mayor Chmiel: No sales here.
Al Klingelhutz: The assessment would be against your property of $140,000.00.
' Earl Holasek: For farmland. Who the * wants sewer out there in the first
place? I don't need no sewer there. I got my own sewer system,
Al Klingelhutz: I know that. And he don't plan on changing it. He's got a
terrific investment in his greenhouses and stuff there at the present time. And
we realize that. I hope it's something you will take into consideration because
I'd sure hate to see his greenhouses be moved out of Chanhassen because I think
II they provide a tremendous service to the city.
Mayor Chmiel: Thanks Al. Anyone else?
Larry VanDeVeire: Yes, I'm Larry VanDeVeire. I own parcel 37. This came as a
little bit of a surprise to me because I thought everything was going to be
south of TH 5 and I just found out that our property jumps up into the Bluff
Creek district. Anyway I guess my concern was that there was going to be a
TH 5 coridor study done. I guess right now the land is zoned residential. I
guess I don't feel the land is really suited for that. I guess my major concern
' is that again on assessments and size of the sewer, if the size of the sewer at
this time would change if there was a possibility of rezoning it in the future.
If it would be adequate at this time if it's put through and also this isn't
green acre property and I guess I'm wondering how that is handled as far as
assessments go. At this time I guess it's zoned residential. I don't feel the
property is sellable. And especially with water and sewer in there. I guess I
' just don't feel that it's adequate as far as residential property being on the
corner. I was wondering how the assessments would be handled on a property that
isn't green acres.
Bob Schunicht: ...were changed to a higher density...the answer is yes. The
sewer's big enough to handle those kinds of changes in the property... Second
thing is that the proposed residential...based on residential. If you were to
' develop the land use.
Larry VanDeVeire: Even though it isn't green acres? Even though I don't live
there?
' Bob Schunicht: I can't...exactly but they're shown at a certain kind of density
residential.
Larry VanDeVeire: Yeah, medium density residential I think it was. I guess
like I say, I think I'm coming in here kind of blind. -
r
26
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Bob Schunicht: That happens to be the same charge for medium density
residential... If you happened to change the land use and got more use out of
it, you'd pay more...
Larry VanDeVeire: Same type of thing applies though as far as unit acres. 1
unit acres applied right now until it is developed? 1
Bob Schunicht: If your property is on green acres.
Larry VanDeVeire: It's not green acres. 1
Councilman Workman: How come I was thinking about you Larry, believe it or not.
I didn't recognize you with that full beard there. How come this did get pulled
in? I don't understand.
Bob Schunicht: The assessment column.
Councilman Workman: And maybe you want it in and maybe you're ready to get
going. I know from the comp plan debate who was a little unsure about where
we'd zone it but.
Bob Schunicht: Okay what happened this area is a MUSA area that you have in
the orange except the 1995 study area. And for the Lake Ann...the boundary for
that came down something like this. So everything here, in that area has
already been assessed for trunk sanitary sewer...so the only thing left in the
MUSA that hasn't been a part of a project or served with anything, is this
property right there.
Councilman Workman: And then all of this.
l , Bob Schunicht: So what this does, when this project gets done, this completes
the assessments for everything in the MUSA that...
Larry VanDeVeire: Then do I understand that it would be assessed at 1 unit per '
acre even though?
Bob Schunicht: ...16 units. 1
Larry VanDeVeire: 16 units? Okay, I guess then I would like to see something
happen as far as the corridor study because I'm looking at, I don't know, 1
I never took out the wetlands or something like that but I'm looking at
$90,000.00 and a piece of property that there isn't a residential developer in
the area here I'm sure that want it. I guess I'm kind of between a rock and a
- hard place as far as which gets done first. I'd like to see something happen as
far as the TH 5 corridor study happen before the dollars have to start flowing.
They sure aren't in my pocket.
Bob Schunicht: The other thing...Phase 2 so...corridor study may happen. You
may have more information by the time...
Larry VanDeVeire: What type of timeframe is there as far as assessments go?
When do they start?
27
'City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
Bob Schunicht: The assessment for the improvements that are being discussed
' tonight would be November of next yeat, so November of 1993. They would
determine taxes in May of 1994 for Phase 1...So Phase 2, the earliest would
be...I imagine May of 1995... You've got a ways yet. Lots of things could
happen between then.
Mayor Chmiel: You may win the lottery.
' Councilman Workman: Could I ask a real quick question? Why, and Wayne raised
the question. Why have we left Timberwood out of this?
' Bob Schunicht: In looking at the overall...sanitary sewer and watermain system,
..won't do anything with them. It's been our experience in other communities
where we have homes that have been built on individual 5 acre parcels around
town and stuff like that...so when we did that we made the decision to leave out
the large lot, single family developments that were part of the major
development but to include the individual parcels... Now likely you might get
some large lot development...
Henry Wrase: Henry Wrase, 8175 Hazeltine Blvd.. Just a question on 41, this
residential. What's the property along TH 41, is that residential? Going to be
residential or commercial?
Mayor Chmiel: Paul, can you answer that?
..
II Paul Krauss: I believe that entire area is guided for office /industrial use
' ultimately.
Henry Wrase: And I have two residences on there, I will be charged as a
resident or will I be charged commercial?
Paul Krauss: That I don't know.
Bob Schunicht: The Council said that anybody....parcel would be charged one
unit.
Henry Wrase: Thank you.
Wilmer Molnau: I didn't get too excited about this because I was at one of with
you at the last meeting. At the last meeting I was told all the assessments
would be deferred until we use them. Now I hear we're going to possibly be
assessed for one hook -up or more. I'd like to ask where is the sewer going to
' run on Audubon Road?
Bob Schunicht: West side.
Wilmer Molnau: On the west side of what? Of the road?
Bob Schunicht: Off on the shoulder. Or not off on the shoulder but off on the
boulevard.
Wilmer Molnau: Is that why they didn't tar the second lane?
1
28
'1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Mayor Chmiel: It might be.
Bob Schunicht: It's not the intention to tear up the road. It's the intention
to put it in the city's right -of -way for an easement...so the roadway will stay
intact.
Wilmer Molnau: Well that will interfere with the high lines. You'll have to
move the high lines again I suppose.
Bob Schunicht: We'll have to work around the high lines.
Wilmer Molnau: Good, because they took it away from my side and I don't want it
back.
Mayor Chmiel: Anyone else?
Hans Hagen: My name is Hans Hagen. We have a purchase agreement on parcel
number 11. We have submitted a plan to the city for development of 141 single
family lots. We note that the proposed first phase stops at the railroad and we
would like to have the Mayor and Council and staff consider extending that so we
could develop, if you go ahead with the sanitary sewer, we would like to develop
this year. Assuming if the project does go ahead, there was a question with
regard to'the finances and would this property be pulled out of green acres and
it would. It would be our intention to, if it's approved, to develop it as
early as possible and therefore we would pull that parcel out of green acres so
that those funds could be used in your calculation for hook -ups. Thank you. 1
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you.
Resident: There was a question back here on timing. Would this be a project 1
this summer?
Mayor Chmiel: We haven't determined that as of yet, no. 1
Bob Worthington: Mr. Mayor, members of Council I'm Bob Worthington with Opus
Corporation, 9900 Bren Road East, Minnetonka. And for those of you who do not
know, we are very close to entering into an agreement with the Chaska Gateway
Partners for purposes of becoming the exclusive development agent and the
marketing agent for that property. Once that agreement is entered into, then we
will be in a position to develop a concept plan and come before the City. Make
them aware of what that concept plan would be and hopefully while that process
is taking place, a user will come along who has some interest in constructing a
building on a portion of that property. And depending upon where the sewer and
. the water and the improvements to the streets are at that time, will determine
the timing of that development. So we're here basically to support what the
city is doing relative to extending sewer and water. We think it's consistent
with your comprehensive planning. We think it's consistent with the MUSA line
debate and discussion that you had. Whether it should be extended or not
extended and we hope that we can become a productive agent in assisting not only
the partnership but the city in implementing it's plans. So•I thought that I
would get that commercial out of the way first. And then we have several
questions that I don't think were in a position to ask the Council to answer
this evening but we at least want to raise and kind of get them out on the table 1
29 1 •
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
so it can be considered, depending upon what your going to do this evening in
' terms of this feasibility report. The first question I think has been answered
and that is yes, assessments will be deferred and await until development occurs
on property with the exception of some minimum unit costs which will be assessed
11 against the property depending upon what the use of that property might be. Is
that a correct interpretation?
Bob Schunicht: That's correct for small parcels...the parcels that we're
talking about, the green acres shown on here, the orange parcels...assessments
will be levied at one unit for people who have property but don't want...
' Bob Worthington: Okay then in Phase 2, Phase 1, my interpretation is
incorrect? Okay. That means that even if we phased the property, as soon as
• the sewer and water becomes available to that property it becomes due on the
assessment rolls right after that?
Bob Schunicht: I think for your purposes that you should assume that...eastern
edge of your property...
•
Bob Worthington: Okay. Well, that's a concern and it's a policy discussion
that we hope that we can have before you proceed with final implementation of
' engineering drawings and specifications because we're very concerned over the
fact that in reading the report we have noted that there are costs for sewer and
water which, if implemented as they now stand, would have us having assessment
on this property which would be 2 1/2 to sometimes 3 times above what we are
paying in other communities and while that may not be a concern of the city's,
it is a concern of ours because we want to have this property competitive with
other communities so that it doesn't sit there while everybody else kind of has
their property absorbed and then it's time for Chanhassen to get it's fair
share. Because the way the market goes, it doesn't work that way. And we'd
like to have Chanhassen first in and fully franchised with the benefits that
II come. from the investment that it's making in these improvements. Could you
explain for us this sub -trunk hook -up which would take place within the Phase 2
portion of the extension? There's a $520.00 sub -trunk hook -up for I believe
it's sewer that's going to be charged to these properties in addition to the
base unit cost. Or am I reading that wrong?
•
Bob Schunicht: There's a...property north of TH 5 that is going into one sub
11 district. The other sub district...
Bob Worthington: On page 20, bottom of the page, the second to the last •
' sentence.
Bob Schunicht: What's the title of the issue?
Bob Worthington: It's hook -up charge summary. It says property served by the
sub -trunk sewer and lift station should be assessed a sub -trunk hook -up charge
of $520.00 per unit.
Bob Schunicht: That's the one...property.up here north of TH 5 and west of
•
Galpin. That's discussing, what's happening...so it's a different piece of
property. ...your property is $970.00 per unit for sewer... There are two
separate... (�
1
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Bob Worthington: So there's not a double assessment?
Bob Schunicht: No. Just one... '
Bob Worthington: Very good. I have a couple of more questions Mr. Mayor but I
think beyond this our interest would be, if you decide to adopt the feasibility
report this evening with some of these questions unanswered, we would like to
have the opportunity of sitting down with the staff and the consulting engineer
to have some of these concerns kind of worked out so that when it comes back for
action for engineering drawings and specifications, these concerns have been
covered. If you would like to defer a decision this evening on this so we can
work out these concerns along with some of the other neighbors who are here who
also have concerns, then that would be fine with us as well.
Mayor Chmiel: I'm already thinking in that line.
Bob Worthington: Alright. So with that in mind I just wanted again to let you
know that Opus is going to be active again within the community and we're hoping
that we can produce some tax base and some new jobs and some new opportunities
that your planning is calling for. '
Mayor Chmiel: Good. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes sir.
Tom Michel: I'm Tom Michel. I live on 8941 Audubon and I guess I didn't get my
two cents worth in and everybody said they were tired of hearing all this stuff
about the small homeowners and something but I have a question that kind of
weighs on my mind because in the initial papers that were handed out by the city
it said they had petitions from 55% of the property owners requesting this whole
project. Now I could see after looking over the list that that couldn't
possibly be true and then tonight they said no, that's not what they meant or
not what, it's what they printed. It's who owns 55% of the land. Now I don't
know where that's coming from but it would seem to me a guy could go out here
and buy 555 acres of land and rope in another 450 people because they're the
majority and I don't see how that works in this place. I got an awful lot of
other questions about those that are exempted. Those parcels that are listed
and aren't paying anything, including the City of Chanhassen who got a piece of
property from one of those Lake Susan Hills things or something. Possibly the
substation down there. I'm sure those people are not necessarily in agreement
with the rest of it but I don't know how a few major property holders can
control the entire project and as you've already heard, including people that
aren't even involved in it and I'd kind of like to have some kind of an answer
to that. Thank you.
Mayor Chmiel: Very good. We'll get back to you on that as well. Anyone else? 1
Dave Stockdale: My name is Dave Stockdale. I own the property at 8301 Audubon.
I apologize, I just got back in town so I didn't have a lot of time to prepare.
I had a question on number 4. That's basically a single family unit in an area
that's industrial. I just wanted to clarify how you were assessing that.
Bob Schunicht: As the Council indicated to people who own parcels, small 1
parcels with single family residence on it, would be one unit for right now but
eventually that would be commercial...
31
City•Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
Dave Stockdale: Okay. A year and a half ago when they upgraded Audubon Road
and I was assessed for sewer and water .at that point, is that something
different than this?
Charles Folch: I think you were assessed for lateral sewer and water which is
' service right to your property and this is for the overall system. The trunk
and lateral, like the discussion we had with Don Patton before, we charged for
both trunk and lateral... When we looked at the assessments for this whole
II project, we'll be very careful...
Dave Stockdale: Okay.
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, I'd like to just make a
quick comment on this. What I would like to see us do again is table this item
and I'd like to have each of the questions that were asked this evening by staff
' to review and answer all those questions and bring this back to Council. Again
I would say the total numbers of questions that have been asked, there's quite a
few. I think it's going to take a little time for staff to pull it together and
bring this back to Council by April 13th, which would be the first Council
meeting in April. The second Monday of the month. And I think it's many
questions that were asked that should be answered and they were good questions
and I think the only way we can really do this justifiably is to understand the
entirety of what the full package is. *So with that I'd like to just move on
down through. I think we can sort of reserve most of our comments for that
particular time as well rather than this evening to continue and go on.
1 a Councilwoman Dimler: I'll second your motion to table.
Councilman Workman: Do we need to table or don't we need to keep the public
hearing open?
Mayor Chmiel: Well it would still be open with the tabling. Right counsel?
' Yes.
Councilman Mason: I'll wait until next round.
' Councilman Workman: Well I guess I want to at least get the point out that we
went through the MUSA expansion and we had a lot of fun doing that and
Chanhassen's in a situation where we are growing. There's some people in the
11 room that are real happy that we are and there are some obviously that are not.
And we've been wrestling with that and trying as best as we can. I guess I
don't want to not be quiet tonight without anybody in the room feeling that I
' don't care that they are paying or have to pay 10 cents when they don't feel
like they should. And that's the biggest frustration that we have in this
growing, should we grow or shouldn't we grow climate. Our first speaker
' tonight, very emotional and I don't have any doubts that it is very emotional. I
would probably only hope to be that emotional if I were in her situation. I
used to be able to ride my bike when I was 8 years old by her house up to that
little old wooden bridge and we used to sit on that bridge and feel it wiggle.
The bridge isn't there anymore and I don't think anybody from Chaska's letting
their 8 year old ride their bike up that road anymore so things have changed
quite a bit. I just don't want anybody to leave tonight, I know Doug and the
Barinsky's, we talked about, I don't know how you ended up with the MUSA
' 32
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
discussion but when we upgraded the road we had a lot of these same neighbors
and we didn't put a trail in there which would have ruined trees and all sorts
of other things and I think we're as sensitive as we could to this neighborhood.
1 think we're going to continue to be that way but it is touchy and it's tough
to make these decisions and I think again we're going to be able to make good
decisions but give it more time. I took more time than I wanted to. 1
Mayor Chmiel: Okay, thank you. Richard.
Councilman Wing: I will assume the risk of this comment but it's one of the '
questions. I want to know more about Timberwood. Here we have this large mass
of homes right in the very middle of this thing. Right in the center of it and
I'm not picking on Timberwood at all but I'd like to know a little bit about 1
their development potential and some of the hazards and the options that they
have as a neighborhood and landowners and given the size of their lot, being in
the middle of this entire project, I guess I'm a little curious why they're not
at least getting a unit charge per house as they're going to be included in this
project. And maybe these are real simple explanations.
Mayor Chmiel: Maybe Paul could just touch on that. 1
Paul Krauss: Well, as Doug Barinsky indicated, there was a tremendous amount of
discussion about the potential of assessments and what the city policies were
and the comprehensive plan. One of the phenomena that happened in this city was
prior to the 1987 ordinance or because of that 1987 change that it decreased the
density to 1 per 10 units per acre. Prior to that coming into play we had a
flurry of 2 1/2 acre lot subdivisions. Some of them might have 5 acre lots or
whatever but they came in under that Statute. Timberwood was a result of that.
There's another one north on Galpin. Sunridge Court technically wasn't exactly
• that but was sort of the same thing. Anyway during the comprehensive plan
there was a lot of discussion as to what sort of policy should be put in the
comprehensive plan to recognize that as utilities are extended, it can cause
hardship. And one of the things that we concluded at that time was that those
modern '87 era subdivisions were compact, fairly dense, conglomerations of new
homes with new on site sewer and new water. It's highly unlikely that they, I
mean you might have a 5 acre lot in the middle of Timberwood but it's highly
unlikely that somebody's going to be able to rezone that from rural residential
to RSF and then run utilities past 18 angry neighbors who don't want it to get
any kind of additional density in there. So it was concluded that they were
pretty much as developed as they reasonably are going to be into the foreseeable
future. As a consequence there was some policies written into the comprehensive
plan that said that, I'm going to paraphrase it kind of but that wherever
possible we would make accommodations for those Timberwood, Sunridge Court areas
recognizing the history. Recognizing the lack of development potential. But we
always tried to be studious to make sure that it was clear that the only reason
we were able to do that is because these are very compact areas relatively and
we can skirt them. And that you will have individual lots that may or may not
have new homes or older homes on them up and down streets and utilities will run
past them and that's where you get into the situations that you heard tonight.
Councilman Workman: But couldn't I make that same argument for Wayne Bongard's 1
property or the Barinsky place?
1
33
1
City•Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Councilman Wing: Lake Lucy Road.
Paul Krauss: Well actually Lake Lucy Highlands is one of those subdivisions.
Yeah you can but the problem we had is there's no way to identify this property
over here has a brand new sewer system. Let's skip that. Next one has an old
' one so we should assess that. The utilities are run on a linear fashion and the
only reason why these subdivisions could be given any kind of special
consideration is because they are relatively compact and can avoid them to the
' best of your ability. There's an additional cost frankly to avoiding
Timberwood. You deadhead the line around the thing so the properties north of
there are going to probably have to pay, cover that cost. But that's the
derivation of it. That's where that consideration first developed. It was
1 during the hearings of the comprehensive plan.
Councilman Wing: Wouldn't Timberwood possibly benefit costwise by paying unit
charge now projected to the future? Are they going to be hit a lot harder if
they ever decide to run lines or hook up 10 -15 years from now?
Paul Krauss: If they ever want to have utilities in Timberwood, I hope I'm not
1 your planner.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay. We have a motion on the floor with a second. Any other
discussion?
Mayor Chmiel moved, Councilwoman Disler seconded to table the pdblic hearing on
II the feasibility study for trunk utility improvements to the Upper Bluff Creek
area until the first City Council meeting in April. All voted in favor and the
motion carried unanimously.
Mayor Chmiel: This will be back on our agenda by April 13th and all the
questions that were asked this evening will be answered.
Al Klingelhutz: One question. I think Earl would like to be involved if
there's going to be any discussion about the land...
Mayor Chmiel: Sure. Thank you.
' PUBLIC HEARING: AMERICANA BANK, LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF MARKET
BOULEVARD AND WEST 79TH STREET:
1 A. SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR A 11,468 SO. FT. TWO STORY BANK AND OFFICE BUILDING.
B. PRELIMINARY AND FINAL PLAT APPROVAL.
II C. PUBLIC HEARING VACATING THE UNDERLYING PLAT AND EASEMENTS OF CROSSROADS
PLAZA ADDITION.
Sharmin Al -Jaff: The application is for a preliminary and final plat rather
1 than a preliminary plat only.
Mayor Chmiel: Final plat. Did everyone hear that for item (b)? Final rather
than preliminary. We already went through that.
Sharmin Al -Jaff: There are three simple applications attached to this
The site plan is for a bank office building. The design of the building
34
1
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992 ,
reflects the future Market Square shopping center and the roofline of Country
Suites Hotel. One attractive feature is a plaza at the intersection of West
79th and Market Blvd.. There are two access points to this site. One via West
79th Street and the second from Market Blvd.. Staff had some concerns regarding •
the Market Blvd. curb cut allowing left turns but a traffic study performed by
Strgar- Roscoe - Fausch concluded that a full access could be accommodated. The
second application is for a subdivision. All we're doing is moving the former
property line to the west to achieve an area of 70,000 square feet on Lot 1
which will be the future site for the Americana Bank. Lot 2 will be reserved
for future development. The third application is vacation of underlying
easements. They have a utility and drainage easement 5 feet on each side of the
previous property line. Dividing property line. This would need to be vacated.
The second vacation is for a cross access easement located along the common lot
line of Lots 1 and 2, Block 1. We're also recommending withdrawal of an
originally approved site plan for Crossroads National Bank building as a
condition of approval of the site plan for the Americana Bank. We are
recommending approval with conditions outlined in the report. Thank you.
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you. Does the applicant wish to say something at this ,
particular time?
Randy Schultz: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, good evening. I'm here again
to talk to you about our desire to bring a new banking facility into the city of
Chanhassen. In front of you is an artist drawing of what wd•believe this
building will look like. We think it will be a very good addition to the city
coming into one of your principle entrance spots into the city. We would expect
to, with your approval tonight, to be working diligently to be erecting this
building just as soon as we possibly can and we're looking very anxiously into
coming into the City of Chanhassen. As some of you, as I'm sure all of you know
at one point we were looking to construct a similar facility over on the corner
of 78th and Market. In the Market Square development. Unfortunately that did
not, the delays in that caused us to decide that this would be a better property
for us and in working with Paul and Sharmin and the city staff we think we've
developed a very excellent commercial development and banking facility for the
city. If there's any questions, particular questions regarding the facility,
I'd like to have our architect Kim Jacobsen address those. And I'll stay here
for any questions also.
Mayor Chmiel: Very good. Thank you. Is there anyone else at this time that ,
would like to address this issue? Okay. I'll bring it back to Council. I was
just noticing that to make a few of the Council people happy, I was counting the
total number of trees that are going to be planted on the site. There's going
• to be 38 total trees. Just a little beyond what we normally have been thinking
about.
Councilman Workman: Rapid Oil has that on their plan too and they don't have '
them all there.
Mayor Chmiel: If they don't, they should and we can make sure that they do. 1
Councilman Workman: I'd like it.
1
35
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Mayor Chmiel: Spring is coming. They can be planted. The other question that
' I do have. Having tenants within the building, will we have signs on the bank
for tenants? Has that been considered?
' Randy Schultz: We have a monument sign and then we would have a, Kim do we have
a sign by the front door or inside the lobby?
Kim Jacobsen: Inside the lobby.
II Randy Schultz: Just on the monument sign there by the plaza.
' Mayor Chmiel: I guess I want it to look like a bank and.
Randy Schultz: We envision no signs up on the face of the building.
Councilwoman Dimler: No outward signage then?
Mayor Chmiel: Right. Ursula?
' Councilwoman Dimler: Are we just discussing the site plan review right now or I
guess my other, one of my concerns is that I had was on the Market Blvd. access.
11 We're not discussing that right now?
Mayor Chmiel: No.
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay. Otherwise I like the plan.
Mayor Chmiel: Well I shouldn't say no. The accesses are there. There is an
' access on Market Blvd. and there's also one on West 79th Street so there are
two.
Councilwoman Dimler: Right. I guess the one on Market Blvd., my comment on
that is that I read the staff report that said something about we could try it
this way for 2 years and if there aren't too many accidents we'll review it. I
don't like to plan for accidents. I think we should do it right the first time
and whatever way that is. Just that little option there didn't set right with
me. •
Charles Folch: When Strgar took a look at, after staff had requested Strgar to
' evaluate the possibility of constructing a left turn land there, basically to
take a look at the undeveloped parcels. What they're zoned for. What the
potential retail development is and they try and make projections as to what the
traffic volumes are going to be and such. There's always a chance that their
estimation of traffic volumes may be high. They could be low. I mean we're
working with a lot of unknowns based on what happens with development. It was
staff's thought in considering this and in considering, the formulas that are
used to predict traffic generations that maybe it would be an acceptable
compromise to, since we didn't have concrete evidence that no, this should not
11 be allowed, that maybe it would be prudent to at least allow the situation to
occur on a basis which we would evaluate the situation and if we determined or
if it's found that it is a problem, it could be typically depicted by having 2
or more accidents there in a given timespan of a year. That maybe we should
' 36
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
close off that access. But at this oint in time we don't have any traffic
P Y
numbers or criteria that say no, that that shouldn't be there.
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay, well I guess my comment to that would be that we know
the bank will stay there. At least hopefully. We know that there's going to be
more development and we should plan right now for optimum traffic.
Paul Krauss: One question. When we asked Strgar to take a look at this, they
did it on full development of the downtown. But full development can change.
. I mean if we have several funiture stores downtown it generates x level of
traffic. If we have a Target and a K -Mart downtown, it's something else again.
So they tried to give us the worst case scenario and under the worse case
scenario, this appeared to be safe and there appeared to be sufficient
opportunity to make that turn. But as Charles said, I mean we initially had
some concerns about the thing. That's why we asked Strgar to look at it in the
first place and we're comfortable with 'what they're telling us is the best
information we have and that this is a reasonable thing to do but again there's
a lot of, downtown's changing and we're working with the best information we can
but it's always tough to know within perfect certainty that it's going to work
all along so we wanted to throw that in there just in case a problem did
develop. We don't expect it to happen but just in case.
Councilwoman Dimler: Now if changes needed to be made in the future, who would
pay for that? Has that been stipulated?
Paul Krauss: No it hasn't. It would, if a change was to be made in the future,
what would have to happen is I suppose the nose of that curb, of the island
would have to be extended out past there. It's not a tremendous expense but we
could probably clarify that.
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay, thank you. I guess at this point that's all I have. '
Mayor Chmiel: The item that caught my eye Paul was on the roofing materials.
Certainly the type quality .shake would certainly enhance the building as I look
at it. Is this Timberline or similar quality shingle, I've seen some of these
asphalt fake shingles and that's what they look like. Is there a reason we
don't want to go with a higher quality roofing, more natural roofing? Or can
I just assume that this Timberline, you're happy with that it's going to give
some appearance?
Paul Krauss: I think if we had our druthers you might get shake but we went '
through this when the hotel came through. They had originally proposed shake
and then realized that (a), they couldn't afford it. (b), they couldn't meet
- fire regulations with it because I don't think they were able to get a treated
roof system. So we went then with the Timberline stuff which we've seen
elsewhere and it's certainly not a shake shingle but it looks a lot better than
the other one. '
Mayor Chmiel: I have to agree with that. That was something that we discussed
fairly extensively. '
Councilman Wing: The only other comment was on landscaping. We're now the tree
city and we're coming up with all this information on how important trees are
37
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
and how they shake and they cool and parking lot standards and one we're looking
' at a seminar coming up requires 50% shading on all parking lots just for heat
reduction. I guess I'd like to encourage and I wish you could do more so here.
Less of the small juleps and junifer and the ornamental trees. We're kind of
coming out of what I call the drab prairie appearance of Chanhassen. Everytime
the University comes out and shoots the city for a picture that's attractive,
they shoot into the trees. If pick up the church, they shoot into the trees and
they keep picking up our treeline as our natural amenities. This bank is kind
' of coming in one of the maybe we call it the prairie settings that don't have
any trees and I guess I'd like to see us encourage less ornamentals and higher
shade trees to meet some of the aesthetics that I'd like to see the city start
' adopting and also get into the cooling and reduction of these heat islands that
we've got so I think that taller shade trees, I'd like -to see encouraged. And
the small ornamental shade trees discouraged a little bit more. So I don't tend
to change or make a comment here other than to say I would have liked to have
seen more height to the trees.
Paul Krauss: He and I were just nodding to each other. I think we can work
with the architect and developer to add those or subsitute.
Councilman Wing: I think it would really enhance the property now and in the
future and also it doesn't hide the building as much as these smaller trees. It
11 starts to grow. It seems to leave the building a little more open. Thank you.
Mayor Chmiel: Tom.
1 x Councilman Workman: Good point. The number of employees, 6. Is that intended
for long range?
Randy Schultz: Oh no. That's just a day one.
Councilman Workman: Pardon me.
Randy Schultz: That's just a day one.
I Councilman Workman: Day one?
Randy Schultz: I would hope that that would be much higher very soon.
' Mayor Chmiel: They have a lot of customers that's going to -necessitate
additional help and I'm sure that's what Randy's probably looking at.
Randy Schultz: We're just talking about what might be the actual permanence,
the hired staff here perhaps on the very first day and that may change. That
may be a little higher. I'll probably have some people up from our other
offices here the first several weeks also.
Councilman Workman: I don't have a whole lot of concerns or questions. Ursula
the comment you brought up, I think we'd better fix that now. I don't know that
we have a problem there but I'm trying to imagine the letter that we'd write.
Dear Americana Bank. We're going to close your westerly entrance... Love,
Ursula. Or something of that in there. So I think it'd better get fixed right
1 here and now or else, I don't think there's going to be a whole lot north of the
38
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
track there for action and you're going to be able to see it coming from
wherever so I don't have a problem with it. '
Mayor Chmiel: Michael.
•
Councilman Mason: My only comment's more of a general one. It looks really '
nice. I was reading through the Planning Commission notes and Commissioner
Farmakes was talking about the whole flavor of the city and how maybe we need to
look at how much our building's are starting to look alike. I have no quibble
at all with this. It's far too late in the game even if I did but I think maybe
in the future that is something we should be looking at. And then we start
getting into some other things like Tom and I were just talking about. Well '
then you get the real drastic differences so just something to think about but
no, I think this looks great.
Mayor Chmiel: Any other discussion? If hearing none. ,
Councilwoman Dimler: Just a minute. On the page 12 of the staff report. I
just had a question under the subdivision dealing with the second, 2(b). Are we '
still calling this Crossroads Plaza? Because when I read that I thought you
were talking about the old.
Sharmin Al -Jaff: This one is Crossroads Plaza 2nd Addition. The first one. ,
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay, so the name remains the same. Yod're not talking
about Crossroads Bank here? Okay.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay, I'd like to get a motion to cover the three items. That
being the site plan review for 11,468 square feet, two story bank and office
building.
Councilman Workman: So moved.
Mayor Chmiel: Is there a second?
Councilwoman Dimler: Second with a clarification of the point that I brought up '
and Tom agreed that we should settle that here. Anybody else want to discuss
that? Do you have any concerns Richard or?
Mayor Chmiel: Regarding Market. 111
Councilwoman Dimler: The access proposal.
- Councilman Wing: I have to trust staff on that I guess but to have it worded
after so many accidents. It's sort of making an assumption here and I guess
that's really. ,
Mayor Chmiel: Yeah. Normally most banks would have two ways of in and out. I
guess I don't object to the access out on Market Blvd.. The only thing that I
would try to seeds if that's going to be a left hand turn, that they have
arrows marking or signs marking indicating where they should be to either make a
right turn or a left turn. That should be the...
•
39
,City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Randy Schultz: If I could make one comment about that. Let me assure the
Council that the last thing the Ameripana Bank wants to have is a situation
where we have a bunch of customers that are driving out of our lot and getting
in accidents. I can assure you this is very important for us to be able to have
our customers be able to turn and go down Market Street. We think it's vital
' for us from a standpoint of having the facility that's accessible to cut
potential customers as their other choice. But the last thing we're going to be
willing to tolerate or be willing to put up with is a situation where customers
are in any danger whatsoever with our facility. So I can assure you that if any
problem like that develops, we will be taking action long before the city would
have talked to us about taking action.
Councilwoman Dimler: Yeah, and it's not my intention to limit your accesses so
I would propose that we remove condition 14 on page 12 there entirely and if and
when a situation does develop that is hazardous, handle it through the public
safety department.
.Councilman Workman: I amend my motion to remove 14.
Mayor Chmiel: And will you accept that as your friendly amendment.
Councilwoman Dimier: Thank you.
•
Councilman Workman: Are we approving a, b and c here Don?
•
Mayor Chmiel: No, we're just taking item a.
II Councilman Workman moved, Councilwoman Disler seconded to approve Site Plan
X92 -1 as shown on the site plan dated February 27, 1992, subject to the
1 following conditions:
1. The applicant must obtain a sign permit prior to erecting any signage on
site. Stop signs shall be installed at both exit points located on Market
Boulevard and West 79th Street,
2. Landscaping along the north edge of the site must be modified to meet all
requirements of the railroad. The applicant shall provide staff with a
detailed cost estimate of landscaping to be used in calculating the
required financial guarantees. These guarantees must be posted prior to
building permit issuance. Provide a plant schedule indicating the size and
type of all plant materials for staff approval.
3. The applicant shall provide the city with the necessary financial
securities to guarantee installation of the required public improvements
and costs associated with the traffic study.
' 4. Revise architectural plans as follows:
a. Incorporate the use of Timberline or similar quality shingles that
provide an image of a cedar shake roof.
b. Provide details of building exterior treatment for staff approval.
1
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
•
1
5. A grading and drainage plan, including storm sewer calculations for a 10
year storm event prepared by a professional engineer be submitted to the '
City Engineer for review and approval.
6. The applicant shall indicate on the site plan utilities coming into the
building and addition and fire hydrants in the vicinity.
7. The applicant shall include construction of the driveway aprons, any median
improvements, sidewalk and boulevard restoration in the site improvements.
All boulevard restoration, sidewalk, driveways, and median improvements
shall be constructed in accordance with the latest edition of the City's
Standard Specifications and Detail Plates (1992). Detailed plans and
specifications shall be prepared by a professional engineer and submitted
for approval by the City Engineer.
8. The appplicant shall be responsible for all damage to the City's existing '
public improvements (i.e. streets, sidewalks, utilities).
9. The applicant shall provide a turnaround area at the east side of the 1
proposed building.
10. The northerly 16 parking stalls shall be labeled "Employee and Tenant
Parking Only ".
11. The width of the easterly curb cut off of Market Boulevard shall not exceed
26 feet.
•
12. Plans for the plaza shall be submitted to city staff for approval.
13. Type I erosion control fence shall be installed along West 79th Street and
_ Market Boulevard.
14. Deleted. L
15. The applicant shall utilize the existing Market Bouelvard access and
provide a striping and signing plan for a left turn lane on southbound ,
Market Boulevard.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously. ,
Mayor Chmiel: The next item is the final plat approval. Item b. Can I have a
motion?
Councilman Workman: So moved.
•
Councilwoman Dimler: Second. ,
Mayor Chmiel: It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion?
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.City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Councilman Workman moved, Councilwoman Dimler seconded to approve the
subdivision proposal with the following conditions:
1. Park and trail dedication fees shall be paid at time of building permits
are requested.
2. Provide the following easements:
a. Standard drainage and utility easements around the perimeter of all
lots.
b. The final plat for Crossroads Plaza 2nd Addition must be submitted to
staff for approval and filed with Carver County.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously.
Mayor Chmiel: Item C. Public Hearing vacating the underlying plat and
easements of Crossroads Plaza Addition.
Councilwoman Dimler: I move approval of item (c). 6(c).
Councilman Mason: Second.
Mayor Chmiel: It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion?
Resolution #92 -34: Councilwoman Dimler moved, Councilman Mason seconded to
approve the vacation of the following easements:
1. The easterly 5 feet of Lot 1, and the westerly 5 feet of Lot 2, Block 1,
Crossroads Plaza Addition.
2. The cross access easement located along the common lot line of Lots 1 and
2, Block 1, Crossroads Plaza Addition.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously.
Mayor Chmiel: That completes that.
Councilman Workman: Did we ever close the public hearing?
11 Councilwoman Dimler: No.
Mayor Chmiel: No I didn't. Would someone make a motion to close the public
hearing.
Councilwoman Dimler: I move we close the public hearing.
Mayor Chmiel: Is there a second?
Councilman Mason: Second.
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Councilwoman Dimler moved, Councilman Mason seconded to close the public
hearing. All voted in favor andithe motion carried. The public hearing was
closed.
Paul Krauss: Could we get you to act on one more thing? Could you withdraw the
original site plan approval for Crossroads Bank just so we can clear the file.
Councilman Mason: I'll move it.
Councilwoman Dimler: Second.
Councilman Mason moved, Councilwoman Dimler seconded to withdraw approval of
Site Plan #89 -6 for the Crossroads National Bank building concurrently with the
approval of Site Plan S92 -1 for Americana Bank. The applicant should file the
notice of withdrawal against the property at Carver County. All voted in favor
and the motion carried unanimously. 1
•
PUBLIC HEARING: MODIFICATION OF PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT N0. 2;
MODIFICATION OF THE PLAN FOR TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT NO. 2 -1; AND
ADOPTING A NEW PLAN FOR TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT NO. 2 -2.
Councilman Workman: I'd move approval unless there are.
Mayor Chmiel: There might be some.
Councilman Workman: Okay. So I'll still move approval if somebody wants to
second it for discussion.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay. Is there a second? 1
Councilman Mason: Second.
Mayor Chmiel: It's been moved and seconded. Discussion. Anyone with 1
discussion? Hearing none I'll call a question. Oh, call that back. We're
going to close the public hearing.
Councilman Mason: Oh, I'll make a motion to close the public hearing.
Councilwoman Dimler: Second. 1
Councilman Mason moved, Councilwoman Dimler seconded to close the public
hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was
closed. 1
Mayor Chmiel: Now, I have a motion to adopt the new plan for tax increment
financing District No. 2 -2. With the modifications to the plan. Can I have a ,
motion?
Councilwoman Dimler: Could I ask a question?
Mayor Chmiel: Certainly.
1
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Councilwoman Dimler: Alright. This is already within a district and now we're
Y ow we re
modifying certain parcels within thatadistrict. What are the exact implications
II here that we're talking about? How does this change the circumstances of this
site that isn't already in there because they're part of a district already?
II Todd Gerhardt: I have a map that better describes it. What you're doing
tonight is, you already have an existing district called 2 -1 and what you're
doing is you're modifying that district to say that you're going to use tax
I increment dollars to potentially a buy a middle school somewhere down the line.
You'll make another modification when you designate a site for that and you'll
know exactly the dollars that you'll be spending on that site. So that will be
a future modification. So right now you're saying that you're going to spend
II tax increment dollars in the future to buy a middle school and also you can use
tax increment dollars to pay for upgrading of Audubon Road and the cost .
associated with that. Some of those costs, they're talking about a traffic
II signal sometime down the line on TH 5. You've already done some work on Audubon
that wasn't included in your past economic development district plan. The
second thing that you're doing tonight is that you are expanding or creating a
II new district called 2 -2 highlighted in the red. You are expanding your special
assessment reduction program to provide incentives to what is the Chanhassen
Business Center that Ryan brought through here approximately 2 months ago so
it's the same program, the 3 years worth-of taxes to help write down specials in
il land.
Councilwoman Dimler: And we're saying then that we're limiting t'he school site
II A to 2 -1?
Todd Gerhardt: Those monies from 2 -1 would be used to acquire the school site.
II Councilwoman Dimler: Okay, and it has to be in that district then? i
Todd Gerhardt: It's the increment dollars created from the blue, the taxes
I created from the blue district would be solely used to buy a middle school
property.
I Councilman Wing: Even if it was to the west?
Todd Gerhardt: Anywhere within that dark black line.
1 Councilman Wing: Okay.
Todd Gerhardt: That's where you'd have to buy a school.
1 Councilwoman Dimler: Oh, okay. It doesn't have to be in the blue area?
Todd Gerhardt: No.
II Mayor Chmiel: Todd, I just have one question. I guess I don't have it, maybe
you have it, modified development program for development district no 2. In
II here it indicates that attached to this modification is exhibit A. A map. I
didn't have it in my packet.
II Todd Gerhardt: You didn't have a map like this?
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1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Mayor Chmiel: No.
Todd Gerhardt: Okay. What this map does is highlights. 1
Mayor Chmiel: You're right. I've got it here. It's way in the front. Here it
is. As Attachment 1 and it isn't entitled as Exhibit A. '
Todd Gerhardt: My mistake.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay. And that should be Exhibit A? ,
Todd Gerhardt: Correct. Also you'll notice that you got a park acquisition in
there. Chanhassen Business Park and you're going to have to acquire some land
to put that lift station on so you could use tax increment dollars to provide
that money.
Mayor Chmiel: Okay, good. Thank you. Any other discussion? Hearing none,
call a question.
Councilman Workman moved, Councilman Mason seconded to approve Resolution
#92 -35(A) adopting the modification of the program for Development District No.
2, Modification of Plan for Tax Increment Financing District No. 2 -2; and
approve Resolution #92 -35(B) for the creation of a new plan for Tax Increment
Financing District No. 2 -2. All voted in favor and the motion carried
unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARING: MODIFICATION NO. 11 OF THE REDEVELOPMENT TAX INCREMENT ,
FINANCING PLAN.
Public Present:
Name Address
. Fritz Coulter 7616 Frontier Trail
Todd Gerhardt: What you have in front of you tonight is a modification to the
redevelopment district in the downtown. Both the Planning Commission and the
HRA have approved this plan with the 9 items listed here as the modification to
that plan. You should also note on the map, this map here, that we're expanding
the project area boundaries to use increment dollars to buy right -of -way and pay
for public improvements to the new access to Lake Ann. The road that would go
along the southerly part of the Eckankar property.
Mayor Chmiel: On the north side of TH 5?
Todd Gerhardt: Correct. Can you see that on the map? Also included in that
modification is that the HRA is looking at and is still taking citizen comments
on the central park acquisition and sometime in the future they want to build a
senior housing project and construction of a public library on the Pony /Pauly/
Pryzmus site. And with that you would expand the Heritage Park design.
Acquisition of the Hanus building along TH 5.. HRA has authorized staff to enter
into a purchase agreement with that development. Construction of a senior
center that I think it's your next meeting you will be awarding bids on. 1
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
Mayor Chmiel: When did we acquire some of those properties that you just got
1 through mentioning? And how does this affect the tax increment financing
district? We're not extending that period of time. It's still all still
contained within the time that was allocated, whether it be a 5 or 8 or 10 year
1 period.
Todd Gerhardt: This is a redevelopment district. It goes out to the Year 2003.
So you've got potentially that time period unless, you know we've been talking
1 about maybe closing the district out early and it's continually brought up
during our goals sessions and it will be of no effect. Construction on West
78th Street detachment. That project had not been included as a part of a
1 special assessment reduction program. You also include project numbers that
qualify for that program. That hasn't been included. TH 5 entry monument
improvements. Those are your signs in front of the Holiday and at the, just to
the south of the bank that you saw tonight that the HRA has reviewed and will
1 present to City Council when you have further drawings or plans and specs for
those improvements. And someday the depot relocation and restoration, as soon
as we find a home for it.
1 Mayor Chmiel: Very good.
Todd Gerhardt: If there's any other questions regarding any of these. I think
1
there may be some people from the audience that may want to comment on this if
you will answer any of their questions.
II Mayor Chmiel: Good. We'll do that. As I mentioned, this is a public hearing.
If anyone has any concerns or questions regarding the particular project, come
forward and please indicate your name and your address.
II Fritz Coulter: Good evening. My name is Fritz Coulter and my address is 7616
Frontier Trail in Chanhassen. I just want to go on record as being one
individual amongst many in my particular neighborhood who are against the
II central park and spending about a million and a half dollars on a piece of
property to plant trees on. I'm not against trees and if any of you walk past
by house you can verify that. I have more trees per square foot than any other
1 lot in this town. I just feel that that property over there can be better used
for something than to put a park there. Chanhassen is blessed with an abundance
of parkland and I'm including things such as the Arboretum, Minnewashta Park, as
1 well as Lake Ann, Bandimere Heights, all the residential parks. Put this in
over here serves absolutely no purpose. Absolutely none. I can see no reason
at all why we need to spend a million and a half dollars, that's the quote that
I was seeing in the paper anyway. Up to a million and a half and that's what it
would end up to be, for something like that. Take that million and a half, go
down and develop Bandimere Heights Park. Add things to Lake Ann that you want
to add. Do those things. The things that are going to help the people
1 immediately. People are not going to drive up from Lake Riley to sit out here.
They want to have a park in their back yard. The property's there. Develop it
for them. The same thing with Lake Ann. That's where people go to enjoy
themselves. You're not going to find an overwhelming number of people coming to
1
sit up here and do this. If they're going to go someplace, they want to see
something of that nature, they're going to go out to the Arboretum. Two miles
west of here, that's it. They're going to hit that place. I guess I'm a little
II confused on the reasoning as to why the park wants to be there and or why
II 46 .
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
there's a need for the park there. I also realize that the HRA is making their
recommendation on this and I'm probably too late to do anything against it
( because once things progress to a point like this, it's usually a done deal and
we have to live with it. But I do want to express my concern that this kind of
money is being spent for something like that when it can be spent a whole heck
of a lot better on other park property within the community. I guess that's
all I have to say.
Mayor Chmiel: I guess maybe one of the points that need clarification. Because
it's contained within the TIF district, we can't go outside that TIF district
and take that money and put it into other parks. Number one. That park that's
existing right now or would be as a park. Mould be taken out of the TIF money.
See everything contained within a TIF district you cannot go outside of those
boundaries with those dollars to do that. Am I correct?
Todd Gerhardt: That's correct. '
Mayor Chmiel: So consequently it could be done. The only other thing that we
talked about at the HRA is that we thought it would add a little bit more
something to the downtown by having the park in and adjacent, a place for
community gathering for the different functions that we have going on during the
year. Coulter Drive that's existing right now would be relocated from where it
is to the back side and that would still be carried through with that same name.
So the street won't be completely eliminated. Just for your.
Fritz Coulter: That's of no concern to me. I know you've got letters from my
mother and other members of my family. That's no concern to me about Coulter
Drive.
Mayor Chmiel: No, but it is to me and I wanted you to know that that's still
going to be the road be it in front or in the back. But the public hearing is
still open on this particular property that we're looking at. We don't have any
idea as yet what the total dollars are even though an estimate was there. So
that's really hard to sayand we don't know that until we get a price quote and
that quote has not been given.
Fritz Coulter: Okay. Like I say, basically I'm just going based on what I saw
in the paper and also having worked for the government and doing bids for the -
government, I know it's going to be that much. That's a fact of life. No bid
comes in on schedule or priced. It's always over so I mean if you're guessing
it's going to be $900,000.00 to $1.4 million, it's going to be more.
Don Ashworth: A couple of points. Number one, the approval of a concept plan ,
for this area to be a park like setting is just that. In other words you cannot
move the library onto what is the Pauly /Pony /Pryzmus site until at least
mid -1994 with the earlier construction being 1994 -95. You cannot enhance this
area then, lower area as for senior citizens until that point in time. The road
really can't come out until that point in time. So a number of these items,
cost elements will be 3 -4 years from today. Maybe 5. The other part that was
discussed by the HRA was; in driving through Chaska a lot of times that park
area downtown isn't just always being.used but it's part of the downtown. It's
just part of the imagery and it's part of what makes Chaska what it is. And the
ability to do something like that with this piece of property, recognizing that
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Market Square is going in across the street. The remainder of the development
11 is going to go to the west says that the center of this town is right here. And
to think about it again like a 3 story Days Inn as it might be plunked onto this
vacant parcel over here, basically eliminates where is downtown. On the other
•
side of the coin, you've got institutional uses here right now. City Hall, the
Bank, the Post Office, the Fire Station, the school. Why not enhance the
imagery of that. If you turn this green from here to 78th Street, it looks as
though it's one piece of ground. It looks like many of the small town America's
that have a courtyard. A park. Or a courthouse in the center of their downtown
kind of anchoring it and I think those were some of the things that the HRA was
trying to get at. Not necessarily, it will be a focal point for activities as
businesses get going and I honestly think that the businesses will come across
the street and will sell their hot dogs and you'll have the band there and
,people will enjoy and I think they will drive from the Bandimere area and they
will come up here and they will have a hot dog and a piece of pizza. But you
know I think it was the sum total of all of those things, not just a park.
Fritz Coulter: To me the sum total still doesn't add up to what you want to do.
It's just, trying to draw comparisons between Chaska's park which started out as
a park and city was basically built around it, and now Chanhassen having a
city and trying to a park in the middle of it are two different things.
Chaska's is right there on TH 41. you go past it because you're on TH 41. Here
the only way you're going to get to it is coming down 78th Street. I dare
anybody to try to get on 78th Street this summer. Ursula was concerned about
accidents. I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of them down at the
intersection of TH 101 where the Dinner Theatre is because of all the dumping of
traffic onto that because of all the construction going on in town. It's not a
focal point. They're not going to drive past it. They're going to drive past 1
11 on TH 5 and never see it. I realize what you're trying to do but Chanhassen is
not a small town. It was when I was growing up. 4 years ago it was a small
town but it's not anymore and trying to keep that atmosphere just isn't going to
work. It's like trying to say Eden Prairie has a downtown. It doesn't. And
you've got the same thing. You can draw comparisons between what is downtown
Chanhassen and CR 4 and TH 5 in Eden Prairie. It's almost exactly the same.
You've got a SuperA.merica, we've got a Holiday. They've got a bank, we've got a
bank. They've got a Burger King, we've got a McDonald's. That's downtown.
That's what it is. It's strip malls.
Mayor Chmiel: Yeah but hopefully that's not what we're trying to strive to
have.
II Fritz Coulter: I know it's not what you're trying to strive for but that's what
it is.
Mayor Chmiel: You may see the difference and that's the differences of opinion
II from what you have and we respect that but we may have another thought behind
it. To see something else within the community as to what we're really looking
for to achieve for the downtown and I think we're going in the right direction
I as far as the City Council is concerned. We're looking to get that kind of
aesthetics within that downtown to make it a little bit different than Eden
Prairie.
•
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
•
Fritz Coulter: I wish ou luck. I
y just wish you wouldn't spend the tax money
on it. And that's what it is. I know it's tax increment financing but it
doesn't make any difference which pocket you take it out of for me. It's still 1
tax money and I can think of better ways to spend it than on that.
Don Ashworth: I would disagree with that as well from the standpoint. You may
be taking it out of different pockets but I sincerely believe that it would
never go into your other pocket. It would go to Minneapolis. It would go to
St. Paul. It would go to the State Capitol but it would not go directly to your
pocket. 1
Fritz Coulter: Oh I realize it's not going to go back into my pocket. Once you
take it out of my pocket, it never goes back in. I'm not that naive. 1
Mayor Chmiel: Unless there's a hole in it right? Thank you. Anyone else?
Okay, we'll close the public hearing. Can I have a motion? 1
Councilman Mason moved, Councilwoman Dimler seconded to close the public
hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was
closed. 1
Mayor Chmiel: Discussion.
Councilwoman Dimler: Do you want me to start? '
Mayor Chmiel: Go ahead.
Councilwoman Dimler: When I looked at this and I.looked at the proposals here
and most of them I have a feeling for that I want. Some I question but I guess
just in comment to Mr. Coulter's concerns I too, I have a problem with HRA money
in particular because we kind of think of it as funny money. I know that
there's a thousand other projects that we would rather see done but they just
don't happen to be within the districts and we can't create new districts. And
so it leaves me frustrated as well to know that this money is there and it's
- going to be spent and it may be something that we think is a frivolous project
when we could be doing other things with it but the fact is that it's here and
we do have to make these tough decisions on what to do with that type of money.
I guess I will go ahead and approve of all this even though some of the projects
I do question, especially the depot since we don't have a location for it yet.
And you know, some of those things and I understand the citizens' concerns on
this and they're saying why are we spending so much money on these seemingly
frivolous projects. But just also, when he brought up the Eden Prairie. I
guess I have a feeling for then that now Eden Prairie does wish that they did
have a downtown area. They are so sorry that they didn't plan for it so in that
respect I hope that we don't make that same mistake and I would approve of the
modification.
Mayor Chmiel: I guess I'd just like to interject just a little bit more to
that. I've had a lot of people who have come to Chanhassen and see what we have
now in comparison to what we had before and have made a lot'of very positive
comments to me. My recently from one of my bosses who's sister just so happens,
not to live in Chanhassen but does live in Minnetonka. She does work for cities
not developing either. And she made a comment to him that she was really sort
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
of taken aback by the thought and the considerations that have been given to
II this community. And she thought and she goes to cities maybe 2 or 3 a week to
do this. She indicated there that it's really sort of nice and he said I just
happen to the guy that's the Mayor of that city. He works for me. And I ('
II thought that was a good comment and I get those comments all the time. From
going out and talking to other people in other cities as I do in my normal job. f
Everyone says you're really doing it right and I feel real comfortable with it.
Richard.
Councilman Wing: I guess I'll just throw a comment out because it's my own
opinion. Late at night behind locked doors in the privacy of my home I wear a
1 t -shirt and on the t -shirt it says, I love Bill Morrish. Just so that the
record picks this up, Bill Morrish is head of Landscape Design and whatever at
the University of Minnesota and Bill took me up on the top of that hill one
Saturday morning and looked at the city and he said, whatever you do don't bury
City Hall. Protect sight lines. Keep as a center and a focal point and that's
what kicked the city center park off and Bill had some very valid points that
project decades into the future. So when this was proposed, I said good for
I Bill and good for Chanhassen for picking up on it. I see it much more than a
park. I see it as an open space in front of City Hall protecting it as a focal
point. I think that's important when cities build.
II Don Ashworth: Mr. Mayor?
Mayor Chmiel: Yes.
I x Don Ashworth: If I may bring up, Councilman Wing brought up Bill Morrish. This
morning he dropped off to me, Building a Community Across the Corridor. A case
II study integrating urban design, ecology. A new parkway model for Chanhassen,
il Minnesota. If I could distribute those. I think we got a lot of good brief
press out of that.
Councilman Wing: Was that your only comment?
Don Ashworth: Well I support your position that Bill should remain as a viable
II factor in our next group of planning processes.
Councilman Wing: Back before this all started, if I could just interject a
II comment Mr. Mayor having to do with this?
Mayor Chmiel: No. Okay.
II Councilman Wing: When I met with Bill but his people, they handed me a book
from someplace in New England where an entire river valley, and the communities
that said we're not going to do it the way it used to be. We're going to have a
1 Fridley syndrome and they created an entire new way of developing their land and
clustering and so on and so forth. I was so excited about that and I've brought
it back and we passed out papers to the Council a year and a half ago or
I whatever. This is the same thing that excited me out in New England except it's
our city this time. Now those people in New England are looking at this saying,
boy is that something. That's really wonderful. This is really exciting to see
II our city in a creative posture like this. The other cities around us ought to
be drooling as far as I'm concerned. This is really significant.
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City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
Mayor Chmiel: It's neat. It really is.
( Councilman Wing: Have you seen this Mr. Lappic? The newspaper should see this.
Councilman Workman: Again Richard's comments and he talked a lot about this at
the work session that we had and there's an awful lot of hours spent on HRA 1
meetings and Council meetings and work sessions and planning commissions and the
city is really left with very little or very few tools to do what they want to
do with their city. The one tool we have of course is to leave things go and we
have plenty of photographs of how the city used to look and maybe it doesn't
matter how the city used to look. At least people lived and maybe they didn't
care but we do have a downtown and a viable downtown but it was because of some
long range planning that used the tool, or one of the very few tools, tax
increment, that a city has to do these things. And this list of 9 things, none
of them can be done without tax increment financing. I guess the tiger chasing
the tail scenario would be without tax increment financing we may not have some
of the developments in town that are driving the funding for these things. So
if you don't have, if you can't lure the development into the town to get the,
encapture the tax increment, you can't do these things. When our fore fathers
purchased the land for Lake Ann, they were spending our tax dollars. I'm
assuming there's a referendum and the people voted and said yeah, let's buy all
the property around Lake Ann. If they hadn't done that, it would be a
completely different place. I may not, and some people may have hoped that I
didn't live here but it's a nice place to live. It's getting to be an even
nicer place despite the growth that we have and so these things, the public
library, a central park are places where people can go to get away from it and
not have to go too darn far. I don't think we have enough. And I guess I'll
respond to Fritz. He mentioned in a letter that Mr. Workman's children want
} this park. Well that's something of a stretch there meaning the Mayor's
grandkids, Ursula's children, everybody's children, a place for them to go for
these things. The 4th of July Celebration is huge in this town. I guess we're
going to maybe get some bad weather some time and maybe it won't be but we have
all sorts of things going on. We have people with the Chamber and with the 1
businesses in town that are organizing and planning art fairs and musicals and
things that Chaska does have that we don't. Or are unable to organize so those
are some of the things that I think an awful lot of people who moved out here
anyway are interested in and are willing to have us put up. And so I don't like
to defend all of them. The acquisition of the Hanus building, I can't think of
anything more exciting than that. But it is part of a long range plan for the
city that if we didn't have the tool, we would be unable to take care of some
problems. We took care of how many leaking gas stations in this town and
replaced them with video stores and places where people can shop you know. And
so I don't know Todd, you're going to have to once in a while get the slide
- projector out and show us what it all looked like. I don't know, I guess you
can take one thing like the park and pull it out and say not a good idea but
it's a part of a whole plan I think that commissions and councils and housing
and redevelopment authorities have looked at and have all looked at and I think
pretty much agree.
Mayor Chmiel: Michael. 1
Councilman Mason: I think it's all been pretty much said.
1
51 1
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'City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
1
Mayor Chmiel: Okay.
Councilman Workman: I approve Modification No. 11 of the redevelopment tax
increment financing.
Councilman Mason: I'll second it.
Resolution #92 -36: Councilman Workman moved, Councilman Mason seconded to adopt
Modification No. 11 of the Redevelopment Plan and TIF Plan for the Chanhassen
Redevelopment Project. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously.
AWARD OF BIDS: LAKE ANN PARK RECREATION SHELTER.
Todd Hoffman: Mayor Chmiel and City Council members. As you are aware, the
City Council rejected all bids for the project received in the first bid
openings on January 13th of this year. You then approved minor modifications
and authorized re- advertisement for bids for the project. On the morning of
Thursday, February 27, 1992 12 bids that were received were opened. The low bid
was from R.L.M. Builders of Waseca, Minnesota in the amount of $255,963.00. As
expressed in the report, this price is an extremely competitive price and could
not be lowered unless major structural changes were made to the shelter. The
cost is higher than the original target amount, however I do not believe it is
in our interest to further alter the design or function of this shelter in the
interest of shaving costs. The shelter will provide valuable service to
thousands of park users each year for many years to come. Funds are currently
II r available to complete this project and this investment will quietly improve the
quality of life of all residents for many years into the future. Whether it be
a birthday party, a company picnic, a cold drink, the rental of a canoe, better
lifeguard capabilities, the availability of a public phone or last but not least
regular indoor bathrooms, this shelter will mean something to everyone. It is
therefore recommended that the City Council award the Lake Ann Park picnic/
recreation shelter construction contract to A.L.M. Builders in the amount of
1 $255,963.00 with no alternatives being accepted.
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you.
Todd Hoffman: I should note this evening that we have Max Daubenberger with Van
Doren- Hazard- Stallings here. He is our project representative. Scott Harri who -
1 you all know is also in the audience. He has recently, in good standings, left
the employ of Van Doren but did work with this project throughout it's
conceptual phase.
Mayor Chmiel: Any discussion?
Councilman Mason: I'd like to move approval.
Councilman Workman: I'll second it.
Mayor Chmiel: It's been moved and seconded with discussion.
Councilman Wing: I would really like, for myself, my own opinion to have
expenditures this big go to a referendum. I think we've decided it's best for
the city, as we discussed these other items. The only thing that tempered that
1 52
11
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
is I've been stunned by these numbers until I saw the numbers for redecorating
the room downstairs. Suddenly these are awful small numbers. Now I'm worried
about the numbers for the room downstairs. 1
Mayor Chmiel: Yeah, you're right. Any other discussion?
Councilman Mason: Just to comment on that. This is money that's already
dedicated to the park fund so.
Councilman Workman: It has to go to the park. ,
Councilman Mason: Right. It has to go to the park.
Councilwoman Dimler: We're really late in the game here to make any changes. 11
Councilman Mason: And I can't wait to use the facility. Or the bathrooms for
my kids.
Mayor Chmiel: He can use the ones at home.
Councilman Mason: Not the little one. He can't wait that long.
Resolution #92 -37: Councilman Mason moved, Councilman Workman seconded to award
the Lake Ann Park picnic/ recreation shelter construction contract to R.L.M.
Builders in the amount of $255,963.00 with no alternatives being accepted. All
voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously. 1
COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS:
Mayor Chmiel: One more thing under Council Presentations. I reoeived a letter 1
with a bunch of renderings that were done by the Chaska Middle School. It comes
from two of the Middle School Art Department teachers, R. Gabriel and M.J.
Moses. It's basically in celebration of the Youth Art Month of March and they
are presenting to the Council original linoleum prints. These prints were made
by the Middle School students from our community. And they're really proud of
the work that these students have done and take pride in sharing their work with
us. So with that we have each received one and I took the one that I liked the
most and I'd like to pass, listen they're all great. They're all beautiful,
believe me and I'd like to give one to each of the Council. You only get one.
And there's only one name that I can't read on it but the one I have is from
Lindsey Johnesh.
Councilwoman Dimler: And I've got one from Joshua Polson. '
Mayor Chmiel: Which one do you have Richard?
Councilman Wing: Let's see, Sheila Ytzen. ,
Councilman Mason: I have the one from Jill Schwartz.
Councilwoman Dimler: Mr. Mayor, before we adjourn. Could I draw attention to
this announcement that was on our desk?
1
53
1
1
City Council Meeting - March 9, 1992
Mayor Chmiel: Yes.
Councilwoman Dimler: Okay. Carver County Prevention Network has put together a
film called the Shame of it All. It's a 35 -40 minute presentation. It's not a
' film, I'm sorry. It's a play, dealing with struggles in our lives from
dysfunctional families. We all consider ourselves quite normal but the truth of
the matter is that we all come from a little bit of dysfunction. And this play
is designed to help you get in touch with your own dysfunctions and to know that
I that's not a bad social stigma. And also it would help us to prevent
dysfunctions in our present families and hopefully future generations won't have
to, so it's on Thursday, March 12th at the Waconia High School, 7 :30 p.m.. This
is a special preview presentation and any community can later have them
come and put it on for a fee. But this is a free presentation.
Mayor Chmiel: Thank you. Available for $250.00.
1 Councilman Wing: Mr. Mayor, due to the hour, I wanted to bring up the Section
627(b) City Council through possible reconsideration. Would you like to just
11 carry that over to the next meeting?
Mayor Chmiel: Let's put it on for the next meeting.
Councilman Wing: On Council Presentations?
Mayor Chmiel: Right.
Councilwoman Dimler: What is that dealing with Richard?
Mayor Chmiel: March 23rd.
' Councilman Wing: Okay. And one comment I would just like to make before g Y just o e we
' leave -and perhaps this would go on the next agenda also. We opened up the MUSA
.line and I'm wondering why and when we opened it were we prepared for it?
People have tonight addressed the TH 5 corridor. There's a lot going on and I
guess I'm feeling relatively strong that the rumors of this study should be no
' longer rumors. I think we have to formally get going on it. I think we're
behind. I think we need a task force and I think we need to be up front, follow
through and I think we need some momentum and I would like to ask that we make a
1 formal task force to help monitor, keep the momentum up on this issue.
Don Ashworth: How about putting that item for the 23rd as well. We're also
talking about that on the 19th.
1 Mayor Chmiel: Yeah, we can discuss that for the next one.
Councilman Mason moved, Councilwoman Dimler seconded to adjourn the meeting.
All voted in favor and the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:07
p.m.
Submitted by Don Ashworth
City Manager
1
Prepared by Nann Opheim
54
1
CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION :° ?
REGULAR MEETING tti
MARCH 4, 1992 F
Chairman Batzli called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m�...
MEMBERS PRESENT: Tim Erhart, Steve Emmings, Ladd Conrad, Brian Batzli,
Jeff Farmakes and Joan Ahrens
MEMBERS ABSENT] Matt Ledvina
STAFF PRESENT: Paul Krauss, Planning Director; Kate Aanenson, Planner II
and Jo Ann Olsen, Senior Planner
PUBLIC HEARING:
PRELIMINARY PLAT TO SUBDIVIDE 9.99 ACRES INTO 1 SINGLE FAMILY LOT AND TWO
OUTLOTS ON PROPERTY ZONED RSF AND LOCATED NORTHEAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF
LYMAN BOULEVARD AND GREAT PLAINS BOULEVARD, EUGENE QUINN.
Public Present:
Name Address
Gene & Therese Quinn 532 Lyman Blvd.
Russell & Orletta Frederick 540 Lyman Blvd.
Dixon & Diane Blosberg 530 Lyman Blvd.
Diane Riegert 520 Lyman Blvd.
Mary Lou Jansen 500 Lyman Blvd.
Scott Harri Eden Prairie
Al Klingelhutz 8600 Great Plairis Blvd.
Jo Ann Olsen presented the staff report on this item. Chairman Batzli
called the public hearing to order.
Scott Harri: Mr. Chairman, members of the Planning Commission. My name is
Scott Harri. I'm representing the Quinn's, the applicant in this matter
before you this evening. And I'd like to introduce Therese and Gene Quinn,
sitting in the second row and also their neighbors in here. The crux of
the proposal that you have before you, I think Jo Ann covered most of the
pertinent issues but again the main objective of this proposal is to create
and divide the property so the Quinn's can sell their single family lot and
as a result of that retain a portion of the property which is identified as
Outlot A, the parcel adjoining Lyman Blvd. for future development. And
since about 10 years ago the Quinn's have been, I don't know if tormented
is the correct word but have been confronted with the TH 212 and it's
location studies in what's going to be the possible impact on the property.
And as a result of the recent actions, it's sitting right in their back
yard right now. And in addition to that has been the land use changes to .
the parcel to the west from a residential land use for future land use to
now mixed development allowing some commercial development which may have
an impact on the property values as far as single family and then most
recently what 3o Ann mentioned was in October the public hearings
concerning improvements, utilities, sewer arid water to Lyman Blvd. to serve
the Lake Riley Hills subdivision and the impact of those assessments to the
property kind of really changing the whole complexion of this part of town
here. In looking at the staff report and some of the most recent trips
that the staff made to the site to look at the right -of -way issue, the
Planning Commission Meeting
11 'March 4, 1992 - Page 2
•
Quinn's feel that conditions 2, 3, and 4 in the staff report are totally
agreeable and that part of condition 1 relating to the right -of -way
dedication of the change in the 27 feet to the 7 feet on Lyman Blvd. is
also acceptable to them. We would however like to pursue a little bit of
dialogue regarding the extension of Quinn Road from where we propose it to
end and give some reasons why we think that it might be more prudent to
look at the development or the actual amount of right -of -way given for
I Quinn Road at a time when the property to the east is developed. Right now
the roadway and the gravel driveway that serves two houses to the east of
Quinn's, sits right on the top of a hill. Any further roadway extension to
the north would be down in an approximate 4:1 or 3:1 gradient. Therefore,
' to make that a feasible road connection, a fair amount of earth work and
cutting and filling and this sort of thing which would totally change the
'character and the heavily wooded area once you move north of this site so
' there are some physical constraints to the site both on the property to the
east, which is identified as the Chadwick parcel and also the Quinn parcel
as far as topographic features. And right now what the Quinn's have put in
' place is an easement for roadway purposes. Driveway easement between the
Chadwick parcel and their parcel which would allow for a future access to
the right -of -way on the Quinn parcel. And then a final right -of -way could
be defined at that time which would then only reflect what is needed for a
' future connection going east over there. And it's not that the Quinn's are
opposed to the right -of -way issue but it becomes more of a practical matter
of the timing and their cooperation I guess would be best served if
development plans to the east were more forth coming and then they would be
I guess in a position to work with this group and the developers on the
other side there. And just as I guess a footnote to this whole issue of
the parcel, currently they have, and I'll just talk in very round numbers,
10 acres of property of which .2 of an acre is the right -of -way on Lyman
Blvd. as it currently exists. The proposal submitted to you tonight
without the conditions or the dedication requested in item number 1 would
' result in the Quinn's either dedicating or end up having to sell to MnDot
4.8 acres of their 10 acre parcel or 48% which by most measures is
extremely high and in fact those longer term members on the Commission
probably have never seen a subdivision come in that was going to either
dedicate or end up giving right -of -way to 48 %. The conditions of item
number 1 would add almost another half an acre of requirement to the amount
of right -of -way pushing this to almost 54% of the site just consumed by
' right -of -way. So we're looking at hopefully some sympathy toward the
Quinn's. Not that they're opposed to the right -of -way issue but to work
with them on the timing issue of extending and actually platting right-of-
way to the north on Quinn Road. One of the final things that we would like
to have entered into the official Minutes here tonight also is that a lot
of value of the property is in it's wooded nature out there and right along
Lyman Blvd. it's fairly heavily treed with a large stand of mature trees.
We would like, and we know that the City is very sensitive toward
preserving trees and the reduction of right -of -way requirement from 27 to 7
is really a positive move. We would like that to continue to reflect a
' condition that as many of those existing trees be preserved because that
truly does provide I guess a buffer to whatever development takes place in
the future on Outlot A on the Quinn parcel. So we are here and available
to answer any questions that either you have or that comes from the
audience. So with that I'll close my remarks.
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 3
Batzli: Before I ask for other public comments, Jo Ann. Have we looked all
the slope and whether that would even be a feasible roadway to put it in?
Olsen: Right. If you look on the second page of the plans you can see
that there is still some area even between where the slope and the trees
actually start beyond where they're giving the 60 foot right -of -way. That
area is potential for where the curve in the road could exist and until we
know exactly where that's going, we really want to have that right -of -way 1
because now is when it can be dedicated. We've explained to the applicant
that once that road is determined, that right -of -way that is not necessary
we can have vacated. If we do not get that right -of -way at this time, and I
the Chadwick property is developed in the future, then it's difficult to
obtain that right -of -way. We would have to possibly pay for it or condemn
for it so right now it's to the City's benefit to retain as much right -of
way as they think is necessary. So yes it is possible still to have the
road actually go into beyond where they're providing the right -of -way at
this time.
Batzli: If we didn't do it at this time, what is the most likely way that II
you'd be able to get access to Outlot 8? Would it be over the Chadwick
property here somehow?
Olsen: Outlot B will be Highway 212. You'll never need access to that.
If you can see where the driveway is sketched in, the'dotted line.
Batzli: Okay. Is there anyone else who would like to make comments? Can II
you give your name and address please?
Gene Quinn: My name is Gene Quinn and that's our property there that we're"
looking at. When I first looked at selling this parcel of land, okay first
of all you've got 4 acres that's I guess legally mapped now for the freeway"
so I'm really forced into subdividing this to ever sell it. Because the
Highway Department won't buy it right now and who knows what it's worth.
And so I have to go through this whole process. You know basically all I
want to do is put in about 6 property boundaries. I'm not changing land
use. I'm not changing how many people live there. That road has been
there for, I don't know, 15 or 20 years at least. Everybody that's
around there, it's been there for 15 years. I feel overall it's, why are I
we looking at having to even look at that road at this time. You know I'm
not looking to subdivide it. At the time that people want to subdivide
that land, they can come in and look at the whole picture of it.
Batzli: Anything else?
Gene Quinn: Especially the piece up to the north of that, I've got an II easement to Chadwick. In fact Dick Chadwick wrote it up himself. He's an
attorney and he owns the property up next to it. I guess I don't feel that
we really have any justification for taking all that right -of -way up there.
I would leave it going up to the property line and maybe up 16 more feet to
get to Chadwicks but to take it, that's 200 and some feet. From there up
to the freeway line.
Batzli: What is your easement with Chadwick's say?
1
I/
Planning Commission Meeting
1 'March 4, 1992 - Page 4
Gene Quinn: Well it's a 60 font by 60 foot easement that would extend just
north of where I'm showing the road parcel.
Batzli: But that's just to get on Chadwick's?
Gene Quinn: Would get onto his property. Right now the road goes from
that corner. It goes along east. So there's an existing gravel road there
and all that serves them other two houses.
Batzli: You don't have an agreement with Chadwick regarding going over his
property to get to what is going to be Outlot B?
Gene Quinn: No, I don't need it.
Krauss: Unless Outlot B is not acquired for 212 for some reason, which is
possible.
' Gene Quinn: I'm going to keep an easement straight north up to where the
land that the freeway's going to take just so it's not landlocked. And if
you stand out there and look at that road, to ever get it down the hill, it
makes no sense at all. It makes no economic sense.
1 Batzli: Okay, well thank you.
Gene Quinn: Well thank you.
I Batzli: Anyone else?
' Al Klingelhutz: Al Klingelhutz. My land abuts Mr. Quinn's. I'm very
familiar with the parcel of land. Mr. Quinn said the road was only there
for 15 years. The private road or Quinn Road. Gus Grippendrof who lived
to be nearly 100 years old lived there for about 50 years. I think was one
of the first houses, was the only house on that 40 acres at that time and
that's where he laid out the road because it was the most appropriate and
' best place for a road to go into the property. When you look at the map
there, just beyond where the road turns, there is a considerable steep
slope. I'm sure that those lines on there are 2 foot contours and you
count those lines and there must be a drop from the space between the two
wider lines just north of the -pink line there of about 18 to 20 feet. And
I think that's why Mr. Chadwick feels that's where the road should have to
turn because of the future possibility of even fitting a house into that
corner lot. If you went down the hill a little further, the house would
more than likely sit down in the wetlands. But if he could keep enough
land into the slope of a hill for a walkout home, and keep the road
approximately where it shows on the line or just a little bit further to
the north. It would make it much more feasible for Mr. Chadwick and to
extend that 60 feet down to a new highway proposed 12 which really runs
down into some pretty low land. In fact you try to walk out there in the
spring or right now, you'd be walking in water. Thank you.
Batzli: Anyone else like to address the Commission?
Al Klingelhutz: Oh, there was one other thing I was going to say. Those
trees along Lyman Blvd. have sort of been a beautiful landmark, especially
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 5
in the fall of the year. They're huge oak trees. The first time I can
remember when I lived on that land 70 years now, and it'd be almost a shame
to destroy any of them for right -of -way. I did talk to the Carver County
engineer on this and he said there's a good possibility when they would
take a look at it if Lyman Blvd. ever became a county road, which is
proposed in the eastern Carver County transportation plan. That they would
try to avoid as much of those trees as possible. Plus the fact that two I
houses adjacent to Lyman Blvd. just to the east and I think the City here
is taking a good hard look at that because they did reduce the amount of
right -of -way along there. It would almost bring that right -of -way up to
their doorsteps. And just a little further east there's about a 2 1/2 -3
acre wetland which would be encroached upon too.
Batzli: Thank you. Anyone else?
Erhart moved, Emmings seconded to close the public hearing. All voted in
9 P 9
favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was closed.
Erhart: It's shown on the plan here as a utility easement. Is there a
need for a utility easement aside from the desire to have the street
easement? '
Olsen: We're not exactly sure where the utilities will go once they're
brought to that site.
Erhart: Would you bring it across the freeway?
Krauss: Well from what we know on the current feasibility studies, no.
There's no utility crossing proposed over there. We didn't sketch that
utility easement on in that area.
Erhart: It was put in there by the developer? '
Olsen: Right. The utilities would come up from Lyman Blvd..
Krauss: Or come along this new road that may extend.
Erhart: You mean that wasn't put in at the same time the 60 foot dotted I
line was? Or they put that in afterwards? I don't understand that.
Krauss: Commissioner Erhart, what we're saying is we requested a 60 foot
right -of -way for what is now Quinn Road. The utility easement extending up
to the highway is not something we requested. It was on a survey.
Erhart: Oh, somebody just put that on there? 1
Olsen: So we're requesting that that also be.
Erhart: Alright. Then I guess for one thing, I guess tradition has it, if '
you feel you have, well I'll just say I guess it would seem to me that
going beyond what would be needed to curve the street there to the east
would be unnecessary, particularly if we don't feel that there's ever a
utility easement needed to go up to the freeway. If we did feel there's a
utility easement, it would be certainly less than 60 feet wide so I guess 1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
1 'March 4, 1992 - Page 6
would have to, in this rare case agree with the developer that going beyond
' some point where you would start to curve to the east and then add what it
would take to complete the curve would be as much as you'd need.
Olsen: We might not necessarily need it all the way up to Outlot B but you
do need it beyond what they're giving.
' Erhart: Beyond because I'm not sure where that it but it has to be enough
so you can make a nice curve to the east. I don't know exactly what that
is. I kind of scratched something in here but the other thing is, where
the current driveway goes over the Blosberg property, does that mean, I
' assume that there's no easement to start the curve further south or is
there?
' Krauss: No.
Erhart: No. So we really have to start the curve at that intersection of
' property line I'm assuming. Then I guess my recommendation would be that
staff figure out how much more space you need to make a safe curve and stop
the easement at that point. Other than that, it's pretty simple.
' Batzli: Tim, so you don't, you're not uncomfortable at all that Outlot B
may be landlocked even though that's where the freeway's going? If the
freeway doesn't go through, we've created something that's landlocked.
' Erhart: One thing, if that would be a concern, then the easement we ought
to be requesting ought to be 30 feet, not 60 because tradition has that we
take half from both property owners along a line if we consider that
someday that we would need a thru street. Is there some doubt about the
freeway at this point? After all these years. That's a real question. Oh
boy. Let me think about that one. Can anybody respond? Your question is,
' is there some doubt about.
Batzli: I don't know. It seems to me that's why the condition is in there
' because it would be vacated if, there'd be no reason to extend it if the
freeway goes in.
Erhart: Then I misunderstood it. If that's the purpose of asking for 60 .
feet, in case the freeway doesn't go in.
Batzli: Is that right Jo Ann?
Olsen: The main concern we had was to accommodate the road to service,
that's going to be servicing Chadwick was the main concern. To accommodate
' that curve. I think we have more confidence that 212 will go through.
Batzli: So you just want to accommodate a curve into Chadwick? You think
212 is going to go in, that doesn't matter?
Olsen: That was our primary, but it's a good point that Outlot B would be
landlocked. I mean that's a good point.
Krauss: Well, you can always resolve that and maybe Gene's probably
willing to consider taking a private easement over his property so he can
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 7
give himself access to there. y 1
Emmings: Didn't he say he's already done that or he's doing that?
Gene Quinn: I'm going to keep an easement to the north. 1
Emmings: How wide?
Gene Quinn: How wide? I can keep 60 feet. I would keep that until you
know, it would expire when the freeway land is purchased.
Emmings: Yeah.
Erhart: And we'd put that into the conditions.
1
Emmings: No, that's private. He's doing that for himself.
Conrad: I have nothing to add. '
Emmings: Just a comment I guess. If he's going to keep a 60 foot easement
to make sure that Outlot B isn't landlocked in case 212 doesn't go through,,
it doesn't seem to me to be much of a burden for us to say that that's a,
that we want to retain some options there and this is.the time to do it.
So I'd concur with the staff report on this with the understanding that
once we know that 212 is through and once we figure out how to get into the'
Chadwick property, that the rest would be vacated. That seems to me to be,
that preserves the most options for the city so that's what I like. The
only other thing I'd say is that the northern boundary of Lot 1 would come '
south. Are the plans on the highway final enough so we can say there's no
chance that that property line will change to accommodate the highway?
Olsen: I just talked to them last week and there has been no changes. 1
They're still working on the EAW so there's always still the potential but
that they don't see it changing here. But there's no guarantee that they
might acquire more land. 11
Emmings: Okay. I don't have any more.
Farmakes: I have no further comments.
Ahrens: Just one question for Mr. Quinn. You don't have any objections to ,
the long right -of -way the City wants north of, or south of the current
driveway? That runs along the east side of your property.
Gene Quinn: I have 60 feet. '
Ahrens: That driveway that runs along the property. You don't have any
objection to that right -of -way I take it?
Gene Quinn: You mean this piece?
Ahrens: Right. ,
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
'March 4, 1992 - Page 8
Gene Quinn: No, I didn't have any objection to here and I'd go up even 60
' more feet. To me this, if you had to put a road here you could do it the
same as the intersection in the city. I mean .I don't want a 30 mph curve.
' Ahrens: I understand the applicant's concern. I think the City should
only take as much land as is necessary to make the curve to Mr. Chadwick's
property. As long as there's going to be a private easement...
1 Batzli: Does that need to be a condition or do you feel comfortable that
that's a private matter between Lot 1 and Outlot 8?
Ahrens: I think that he's going to have to do it because he doesn't want
to eliminate his options for any development of Outlot 8 if in fact...
Batzli: I don't have anything other than I guess what Joan and Steve and
Tim's comments. A motion?
Erhart: I'll move that the Planning Commission recommend approval of
' Oakwood Estates Preliminary Plat #92 -3, dated February 3, 1992 with changes
to condition number 1 to read, that the applicant provide 7 feet of
right -of -way along Lyman Blvd. and will dedicate a 60 foot wide right -of-
1 way over the existing driveway easement north to a point necessary for
establishing a future street which will continue north, turning east at the
northwest corner of the Blosberg property. That distance to be, that exact
distance to be determined by staff. All the other conditions to remain the
same.
Conrad: I second that.
Batzli: Discussion.
' Conrad: We didn't talk about the trees and the concern for the trees and
the 7 feet of right -of -way. Do we need any comments on that?
' Krauss: We really have no idea at this point what the impact, if any will
be of the reconstruction of Lyman Blvd.. Only taking 7 feet of right -of-
way at this point would tend to limit any intrusion.
•
' Ahrens: Are the trees located in that? I don't have any idea if the trees
would be located in that area.
' Krauss: I was out there today with Gene. I'm not certain.
Olsen: Some will be within there but the road will probably be centered
within the right -of -way so what we're doing is really pushing the right-of-
way to the south, which is farm field. It seems logical that that's where
they'd go.
' Emmings: Any street, the fact that the trees are in the right -of -way
doesn't mean they're automatically going to get knocked down I take it.
Number 1. Number 2. The City of Chanhassen, what role does the City have
if the County should upgrade and widen that road?
Krauss: Well the fact of the matter is, it's not a county road.
1 •
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 9 1
Emmings: Oh it's not. What is it? 1
Krauss: It's a city street. It probably should become a county road at
some point.
Emmings: If it's a city street then we have control over what trees get
knocked down. If it's a county road, do we have control?
Olsen: We can still comment.
Emmings: Okay. I don't see we can impose any conditions on the
subdivision that are going to affect those decisions later.
Conrad: Basically what that does, this decision has put the right -of -way
more to the other side of the road and that would be acceptable. 1
Batzli: I have a comment on item 2 actually. I'd like to propose that we
amend that to read, applicant shall enter into a driveway easement
agreement satisfactory to the City releasing the City from liability or
maintenance responsibilities, etc., etc.. In other words we'd cross off
the first words, the City Attorney's office shall prepare and add, the
applicant shall enter into a driveway easement agreement satisfactory to
the City.
Erhart: I so amend. 1
Batzli: Do you agree with that, your second? •
Conrad: Oh sure. I so second. 1
Batzli: Any more discussion?
Erhart moved, Conrad seconded that the Planning Commission recommend
approval of Oakwood Estates Preliminary Plat #92 -3 to create one single
family lot and two outlots as shown on the plans dated February 3, 1992 and
subject to the following conditions:
1. The applicant shall provide an additional 7 feet of right -of -way along
Lyman Boulevard and shall dedicate a 60 foot wide right -of -way over the
existing driveway easement north to a point necessary for establishing
a future street which will continue north, turning east at the
. northwest corner of the Blosberg property, the exact distance to be
determined by staff.
2. The applicant shall enter into a driveway easement agreement
satisfactory to the City releasing the City from liability or
maintenance responsibilities over' the private driveways until the
street (Quinn Road) is constructed to city urban standards.
3. Outlots A and B cannot be replatted or built upon until. sewer and water
are available to the site. .
4. The existing gravel drive will have to be upgraded to urban street
standards once utilities are available and further lot subdivisions
1
Planning Commission Meeting
'March 4, 1992 - Page 10
' occur which utilize Quinn Road.
All voted in favor except Emmings who opposed and the motion carried with a
vote of 5 to 1.
1 Batzli: And your reasons for opposing.
Emmings: I just go along with the staff report on this
PUBLIC HEARING:
' AMENDMENT OF THE LAND USE ELEMENT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND SECTIONS OF
THE ZONING ORDINANCE REGARDING THE A -1, A -2, AND RR DISTRICTS BY
ELIMINATING THE 2.5 ACRE MINIMUM LOT SIZE IN THE RURAL AREA.
Kate Aanenson presented the staff report on this item. Chairman Batzli
called the public hearing to order.
' Aanenson: I did have a few phone calls on...concern was people who already
had 2 acre lots, could they split their lots and that's not the intent of
this. This is for someone who has 10 acres. I think that's where the
' confusion came in because they thought they could split their lot and if
they could still get the two septic sites on it...
II - Emmings moved, Ahrens seconded to close the public hearing. All voted in
favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was closed.
' Ahrens: I have no comments.
Farmakes: No comments on this either.
Emmings: I can't understand something that you've written here. Number 3
says that each site must have at least 1 acre of area which can support 2
septic system sites. I suppose there should be a comma there.
' Aanenson: We're thinking one area. Instead of taking one acre, we want to
take out the acre and saying one area.
' Emmings: Okay. It's one area which can support two septic system sites, a
building pad and a well.
' Aanenson: That's what's existing right now in the rural lot.
Emmings: Okay, but the it says with a slope of 25% or less. Does the
slope of 25% or less go with the area er does it go with the septic
systems?
Olsen: It goes with the area.
Emmings: Okay, this is real confusing. It needs punctuation real bad.
Aanenson: What it is...
Emmings: It's what?
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 11
Aanenson: It's just a portion of that section. I should have written out
the whole. 1
Emmings: Well but this sentence, I mean you can't make sense of it if you
just read it and it's real simple to fix I think. If I know what slope
goes with.
Ahrens: I think the well is supposed to have the slope.
Emmings: Well I thought maybe it was the septic. I thought maybe it was
the septic. You had to have your septic sites in areas where you have 25%
slope or less. I don't know what that goes with. 1
. Batzli: I think it's the whole area.
Ahrens: That's exactly the way it's written.
Olsen: We wrote it so it was wrong. The intention was the septic site
area. Remember with the Bluff Greens? 1
Emmings: What it should say is each site must have one area which can
support two septic system sites on a slope of 25% or less, a building pad, 1
and a well.
Olsen: Right. That was the intention.
Batzli: Can you put a building up on more than a 25% slope?
Emmings: I can. Any engineer can. 1
Olsen: Well they can grade it. You can't grade septic sites but you can
grade... I'm just saying the building pad you can grade. The septic site
you can't. You can't grade it.
Emmings: Yeah. You've got to stay completely off it. Okay. Now if it's
written that way, then I understand it and it's fine with me.
Krauss: Can we ask for you to respond on one aspect of this? This
ordinance totally eliminates a minimum size criteria. Basically the
minimum size becomes defacto. Can you accommodate those features on the
lot? We also, at the time this came up, in fact Tim will remember this.
We discussed having a 1 acre minimum and if the 1 acre qualified for this,
that's fine. Otherwise it had to be bigger. Is there any perception as to
whether you'd be more comfortable with an acre minimum or without one? I
mean we're not sure what the bottom end will be. I mean effectively it's
probably going to be bigger than % 15,000 square foot lot.
Conrad: It shouldn't be a 10,000 foot lot.
Emmings: We're not going to start this again are we? 1
Conrad: But it leaves it open. Right?
1
1
,Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 12
' Batzli: I though you were going to come back with an acre. That was going
to be my only question was what happened to the acre.
Aanenson: I met with the building department and calculated...figured a
minimum lot would be somewhere close to 3/4 of an acre... Maybe a half
acre but that's getting pretty tight.
' Batzli: But what's the thought process for not putting the minimum in
there?
' Emmings: What minimum? A minimum?
Batzli: A minimum.
' Krauss: It's a total reliance on a performance standard but I guess you
know, and we wrangled with it a little bit. We would not be uncomfortable
with establishing a bare minimum and if it's 3/4 of an acre, an acre.
1 Batzli: Tim's our expert in lots here.
' Erhart: Yeah, it's about 3/4 acre. The question then is, is staff
comfortable with, if somebody comes in with an unreasonable plan, do you
feel you have the authority to say no?
' Krauss: People can be more creative than we can anticipate. The other
side of this is we are allowing cluster development here where
theoretically you peg a 5 acre outlot that's going to have a drainfield for
' the entire community if it's well designed. In that case you may want to
allow down to a 15,000 square foot lot. Maybe the 15,000 square foot
should be, I mean perceptively it seems wrong to theoretically allow
something smaller than what you allowed in a sewered area.
' Erhart: Well that was, I guess are we open to discussion?
1 Batzli: Yeah.
Erhart: That was my question is, are we then, because we haven't dealt
' with items 2, 3, and 4 here which are the setbacks, lot depth and width,
which I think we need to, are we then assuming we're adopting the RSF
standard which is a 100 foot width to 150?
' Aanenson: No, we're just talking about the lots that...still follow the
same setbacks...
' Erhart: You're still going to require a 200 foot wide lot? Why would you
do that? Item number 2, under 20 -575. Item number 2 says you have to 200
foot lot width. 200 foot lot depth. 1 assume that that was going to be,
I'm assuming we'd look at that also. If you're going to allow a one acre
lot, you really need to go. Because it was absent there, I assume you were
going to use the RSF standards as you're suggesting, the 15,000 square feet
with the 100 foot width. I don't know. I think we have to deal with those
at the same time.
Conrad: Why don't we use 15,000 square feet?
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 13
Erhart: Yeah, the question is if you're going to allow a community
system, then what you're trying to drive towards is to get normal sized
lots. So why not use the RSF standards then?
Krauss: Well as a consistent factor to establish the bottom end, it seems 1
like it makes some sense to do that.
Erhart: Let me ask you. When the guy comes . in with a septic design,
doesn't he have to follow some book or something?
Krauss: There's the WPC 40 which has been superseded. 1
Erhart: And our ordinance requires them to follow that? They can't come
in with some, nobody can come in with some hair brain idea, it has to
follow a clearly written standard?
Emmings: Isn't this just so remarkably different than what we're dealing
with in RSF that it doesn't apply? Here you may have a lot, even if the
guy could get it all into a 10,000 square foot let's say, which I don't
think you can. I don't think it's possible but let's say somehow they
design it in there. He's still got, he's on 10 acres. This one 10,000
square foot lot on 10 acres. Do you care?
Batzli: Yeah, actually you do don't you?
Emmings: I don't know.
Krauss: I think you care because the reason we got into this in the first II
place is what happens when the City comes out and grabs these things and
how do you integrate it? I mean you can perceptually illustrate if you
have 100 acres, a 10 homes on a street that would look like it's a street '
just around the corner from City Hall. And it's sitting on 90 acres of
nothing and there's a big outlot someplace out there that has the community
system and when the city extends itself out to there, you just knock off
that community system and hook it to the sewer. That's the lowest common II
denominator.
Erhart: That's the whole point of this thing is so that we don't end up
with a Timberwood island that's there forever so that you can put in a
small little group of lots so that down the road when city sewer comes in,
and you're doing this in an area where you think sewer is going to come in.
In 30 years or something. That it integrates right in and I would surely
think that we'd want to use at a minimum our RSF standards of 15,000 square
feet and clearly state that.
Emmings: I wouldn't have trouble going along with that I guess. I just 1
don't think it can be done in less than that.
Erhart: If you lay it out... 1
Emmings: You might as well put a fire under it.
Conrad: Is there any logic when people do this Paul? When they take 40
acres and they can put 1 per 10 on 40. When they start laying their 4
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
'March 4, 1992 - Page 14
houses out, what's the thought process that they're going through? Is
there any, are they looking to the future at all or are just really trying
to get the 4 houses out?
' Krauss: I think it's pretty clear those pre -'87 plats didn't think about
much of anything except to get 2 1/2 acre lots.
' Conrad: Is there any logic to where they put those houses?
Krauss: Well I know that in Timberwood, 1 don't know if Al is still here
but Al's told me that the lots are all designed so they can be split in
half theoretically if sewer and water came through. But realistically
you're not going to rezone the odd lot in the middle of Timberwood and run
'a utility system past 13 or 14 angry owners to get to that one lot.
' Conrad: The only thing I'm thinking about is, you know if there was some
logic for larger lots, that 1 acre would set a, would create an environment
for larger lots in that area. But there's probably, that's probably folly
in thinking that it's setting any kind of precedent for how a future
developer's going to go in. So realistically I think we should go back to
the 15,000 square foot minimum and RSF type standards. They're going to be
bigger but.
Aanenson: I can change that. I mean...all of the vacant lots that are in
' place right now. Change the minimum standards until we talk about the
15...
Erhart: No, they'd have to have 10 acres.
Aanenson: ...I'm talking if we change the front yard setback...so I'm not
sure what the lots would be.
Krauss: Unless it's just lots created after the date the ordinance becomes
effective. You know realistically too, 1 don't think in the next 10 years
you're going to see more than 3 or 4 subdivisions coming in under this.
Erhart: I think that's a good idea to add in there that, the fact that if
a lot's created afterwards because you don't want to have a row of houses
II
at Timberwood that's been set at a 50 foot setback and then all of a sudden
one comes in with a 30. It wouldn't be right. Are you done?
11 Conrad: Yeah, I think so.
Erhart: On the statement there, right in the middle of the page 2, where
it says large lot residential developments. Just as a clarification. If
that would read rural residential and then in parenthesis, (unsewered area
developments) because we don't use the word large lot I don't think.
Krauss: Actually it's in the comp plan.
Erhart: It is? Okay. It would seem to me to read a little better. You
' can look at it. Secondly is, over on page 4. Page 3, item (a). Where
does that go?
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 15
Aanenson: That's all new language.
Erhart: Okay, where does it go in the ordinance? Does it go in the zonin
ordinance or does it go in the?
Aanenson: Zoning ordinance under, we have a section called rural lot
standards...
Erhart: Well again, my feeling is one of the worst things that ever 1
happened to Chanhassen was for us to get in a situation where we encouraged
the chopping up of farmland into these 2 1/2 acre lots. So if nothing else
accomplished in my 5 years here, this is a very good change. I would
recommend one more thing, and this is a major thing. That is to encourage
further that people don't go out and ever do this again is that we change
our street standards for all of Chanhassen now to require urban street
standards. Eliminate once and for all rural street sections. All future
subdivisions have to have curb and gutter and the purpose is one, I think
the city is now ready for that. Essentially we are a growing community I
that we expect some day to be pretty much urbanized. Secondly is that it
will make it too expensive to go out and create a tract of 2 1/2 and 5 acre
lots because the streets get more expensive. I think we ought to do that
along with this change and do it simulataneously. I throw that out as an I
idea to again encourage people to cluster so these things fit in.
•
Batzli: Does the rural versus urban, if you will, street standards, do
they vary in the amount of easement that they take or anything else?
Krauss: Well it used to.
Olsen: It's all 60 feet now.
Krauss: Yeah, it's all 60 feet now but the standard of pavement and the I
lack of curbs and storm sewer are the real difference.
Batzli: But if you required that and you got curb and gutter in some of
these areas where they don't have sewer or water out there, do they then
end up ripping up the streets to put it in? _
Krauss: Well, that's a possibility but they'd rip it up whether it was an II
urban standard street or rural standard street.
Batzli: But it costs more to put it in.
Krauss: They'll move it or run the utilities through an easement area on
one side or the other.
Erhart: That would have to be planned out when they put the development in
hopefully. Your thinking is an urban street is not as wide as, total width
of grading is less isn't it than a rural? 1
Krauss: Because you don't have the ditches on the side.
Erhart: So you're talking, if you're looking at trying to, most of the
ones that are going to go in, if they're going to go in wooded areas or
1
Planning Commission Meeting
`March 4, 1992 - Page 16
wetlands, it would seem to me they'd have less, encourage less disturbance.
Batzli: Does that change have to be made parcel with what we're doing
tonight or is this just something we should consider and look at?
Conrad: I guess my preference is not to consider it right now or to
consider it as part of this. I'm not sure how it.
' Erhart: It doesn't have to be simultaneous but I'm just saying in
conjunction with it somehow, I just think.
Batzli: Is that something the rest of the Commission wants staff to take
alook at? To basically amend the ordinances so that we're looking at urban
street standards throughout all of Chan? Pros /Cons.
' Aanenson: It's the first time I've heard of it.
Batzli: I think it's the first all of us except Tim have thought of it
I'm not sure.
Conrad: I'm not sure where I'm at on it. I don't know. You think it's a
high priority.
Erhart: Well I don't know. It's an idea. It might be quacky. In fact
Al's here. I guess he knows more about subdivisions than anybody here.
Maybe he's probably appalled that I'm proposing this because it'd certainly
make a development more expensive but I propose it because I think it makes
sense for our future.
' Al Klingelhutz: Really though if you're going to cut the lot sizes down
from 2 1/2 to 1 acre...because the length of the road would be that much
' longer so if you had twice the length of road to cover the same amount of
lots. 5o the difference in cost per lot would not be much different from a
rural service road than an urban.
' Erhart: One thing you wouldn't want to have is a bunch of 15,000 acre lots
with a rural road.
' Batzli: Exactly.
Krauss: I think it's a real valid point to ask the City Engineer to
pond to it. I think the whole idea of the rural roads stems from an
E) or which wasn't too long ago but where folks anticipated development in
the rural area was somewhere over the horizon and nobody knew when. We've
just confronted a bunch of situations where it's not over the horizon. It's
here.
Batzli: What I'd like to do I guess is have staff's engineers come to a
' meeting next couple of sessions that you have. Talk to us a little bit
about what that entails and whether it's something that we need to take a
look at and modify our ordinances on that. My only comment is, I would
prefer that we have a 20,000 or half acre minimum rather than a 15,000
minimum here. I think that at least 2 Council members here may support me
that 15,000 is even a small sized lot and encourage it out in these areas
1
.1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 17 1
is I don't think necessarily wise idea so I would prefer, and I may be out I
voted here that we look at a 20,000 square foot lot or something rather
than 15. Other than that, do I have a motion?
Councilman Wing: ...I clarify a question... If we're talking 15,000
square feet and it requires 2 septic system sites, can that even be done on
that small of a lot?
Krauss: No, but that's where it becomes a performance standard. The only 1
way you could do a 15,000 square foot lot in all likelihood is to have it
clustered community drainfield. If you don't do that, your lot size may be
4 acres you know depending on the terrain.
'Councilman Wing: So that's a big unknown at this time.
Krauss: Right. It tells the applicant that they've got to give us 1
engineering that demonstrates they can qualify.
Emmings: I think the thought is Dick, that someone sometime may be able to
come up with a real tiny lot and be able to accomplish this and nobody up
here wants to see them go below the minimum we allow in a regular
subdivision. That's the only reason for putting that number in. We sure II
don't expect to see any.
Conrad: What I don't understand is our setback standards. Now if we put all
minimum for lot size in, what are we doing? Are we changing all the other
setbacks?
Kate Aanenson made a comment that wasn't picked up on the tape. 1
Conrad: But they would be different standards in the rural and the A -2
districts. So would we have two sets of standards?
1
Aanenson: If that's the direction you want to go. If we went with the
15... 1
Emmings: I thought what Tim is saying is that, Ladd is that as, the RSF
standards will be a minimum.
Conrad: But here we're dealing, get me out of, maybe I'm missing some
piece of logic here but where we're dealing in an agricultural estate
district or an RR district where the setbacks, side yards, whatever, are a II
lot bigger typically and now all of a sudden we're going to say across the
board we've just shrunk them to RSF standards. What we're trying to
accommodate these few situations where we're subdividing 40 acres and
giving them 4 lots and so for those 4 lots it may make sense to change, but
1 guess what I'm not confident. I don't want to change the standards for
the balance of those areas.
Aanenson: ...they're going to have different standards...
Erhart: If the lots's under 1 acre you can do that but if it's over 1 acre'
it has to be the standards that are now in there?
1
, Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 -- Page 18
' Aanenson: Fight.
Batzli: Would the Commission feel more comfortable taking a look at this
at the next meeting with it all put together?
Conrad: Yeah.
1 Aanenson: I would.
Batzli: Okay, do I have a motion?
1 Emmings: To look at this next time again?
Batzli: I think we should bring it back.
Emmings: I'll move to table it.
Batzli: Is there a second to table?
Farmakes: Second.
1 Erhart: That includes looking at the urban versus rural standards? Is
that your motion? •
1 Emmings: Are you back to the roads?
Erhart: Well, are we coming back just to talk or is that in your mind a
1 separate, totally separate thing?
Emmings: I'm only talking about what's in front of us.
' Erhart: Alright.
Batzli: I think staff is already going to put together a presentation or
take a look at it for us on the road section.
Erhart: Okay.
1 Conrad: But just remember from what Tim's suggesting may make some sense
but really the people who don't like that are the developers out there or
' the people that are subdividing and maybe they're not ever developers at
this time. They're somebody that owns 40 acres and are just trying to,
they're going to give us the pitch that they don't have a lot of money to
do this. So I don't know if staff, the engineer will represent one side of
the coin.
Batzli: I don't think we're going to make a decision based on the
' engineer's report other than to figure out what are the changes. I mean
they know how much it costs to build roads. We're not looking I don't
think to make a decision other than perhaps to hold a public hearing to
talk about changing it. I don't see us doing anything more than that. I
don't even understand what all the changes would be.
1
Planning Comrr'ssion Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 19
Emmings moved, Farmakes seconded to table the amendment of the Land Use
element of the Comprehensive Plan and sections of the Zoning Ordinance
regarding the A -1, A -2 and RR District for further study. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
Batzli: Kate, do you have enough direction on where we want to see it go?
Okay. As far as direction to Kate on the size of the lots, I'd like
20,000. If everyone can just kind of, what would you like to see Tim?
Erhart: I think that's reasonable.
Batzli: Ladd?
Conrad: Why do you want 20?
1
Batzli: I want it bigger than 15.
Emmings: How about big enough so that there's a chance for them to split 1
it if it ever became a 15,000? What if it was 40?
Erhart: That's one acre.
1
Emmings: 45. Or if it was 30.
Krauss: That really doesn't work in practice. I mean they plop the home
right in the middle and there it goes.
Batzli: I just think it's rural. The question is whether you want to -,
preserve any rural setting and 15 is, you're plopping them in like back
here. It's just, I don't get it.
Emmings: But once there's water and sewer there, they can do it.
Batzli: Yeah, but the question is whether you want to preserve some of the'
character of the land.
Conrad: But we're preserving the other acres. Not the ones that the
houses are going on.
Batzli: That's right.
Conrad: So I don't care. I can go along with 20. It's not practical
anyway to get this on 20,000 feet.
Erhart: Well it only would be if you had a community sewer system. But 1
again, I mean I'd go along with 20 to be nice but I'm not sure there's a
point.
Conrad: If you want to make a power play Mr. Chairman.
Batzli: I'm not trying to make a power plan. That's why I'm asking you
guys. Steve. 15, 20, different number?
Emmings: I don't care. I really don't care.
,Planning Commission Meeti,g
' March 4, 1992 -- Page 20
Farmakes: I would support 20. And 3 trees.
Batzli: Joan? And 3 trees. Did you hear that?
Ahrens: I don't really see the point between 15 and 20. I'll go with 15.
I don't see the point...
I Emmings: Well there isn't any. You're not preserving rural character
because until water and sewer come, the guy's sitting on 10 acres. After
it comes, they can put in a 15,000 square foot subdivision.
Batzli: The only time it's going to happen is if they cluster and use some
,sort of community system.
' Ahrens: I'm not sure that 20,000 square foot lots preserve rural
character.
' Batzli: No, but it avoids downtown city square gridlock potentially. Or
helps.
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT CONCERNING PUD RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS.
Krauss: I don't know if this qualifies as moving right along.
Batzli: 'Okay, let's move right along and screech to a halt.
Krauss: As before, we're really not entirely certain where you'd like us
to go with this. Although I guess I'm getting a better idea. We tried to
give you the information that you requested. We did a survey of a number
of third tier communities. It's in your packet. To the extent they
defined a PUD lot size, residential PUD lot size, we've given you that
information. It goes down to some ordinances which don't establish a
minimum lot size for PUD. In fact in Eagan they just said well, the
smallest we'll ever accept is 8,700. I think they pulled that out of a
' hat. But in Eden Prairie it's the same, 13,500. They require on normal
single family lots. On some cities like Bloomington it went from 11,000 to
15,000 if you're on a corner lot. And on but you can see that none of
' those communities has the 15,000 square foot standard that we have. Now
whether that has any bearing on the discussion or not I don't know. But
that's the information. Also in your packet, we got a letter from Peter
Olin via Ladd where Peter suggests a rather simple approach is a better one
for an ordinance. With a strong intent section. I don't disagree with
that. I mean we talked about a different approach of not being too
specific and just establishing what kind of development you want to
achieve. On the other hand, if you're real sensitive to the minimum lot
size criteria, that might be one of the standards you want to put in there.
I also tried to focus a little bit on what exactly is the issue about lot
size. The issue seems to be that you can't get a desireable or a normal
home on the lot and I think you can approach that from two perspectives.
You can establish a requirement, and I think it should be universal frankly
because we have equal problems in normal subdivisions, that there be a
minimum buildable area. Well -that you demonstrate that you can fit some
sort of normative home, a reasonably sized deck and a back yard and if you
can't do it, and you may not be able to do it on a 3 acre lot if it's got
1
r
Planning Commission Meeting 1
March 4, 1992 -- Page 21
bad topography or wetlands and it's not a legitimate lot. That standard
should apply universally. PUD's, subdivisions, whatever.
Emmings: Can I ask you a question right there? What stops a developer
from coming in and saying, yeah I can put this house on this lot and I can
put a deck on it and I've got a back yard and then he goes out and he
builds a house that's a whole lot bigger than that and just kind of destros.'
the ability to put a deck on there because of the size of the house. How
do you get around that?
Krauss: Well I don't know. Then you're in the position of you took the
moral high ground. You demonstrated that it could have been done. If
somebody somewhere made an independent decision to screw it up, that's what'
they did.
Emmings: Yeah, then that's their problem.
Krauss: The other aspect of it is the buildable area approach. I've
worked with ordinances that say that not only do you have a minimum lot
size of x but a certain percentage of it has to be buildable. Has to be
useable. And to get that you eliminate all the easements that conflict,
all the wetlands, the setbacks and if you don't achieve that buildable
area, again a 15,000 square foot lot may not be buildable. I mean we've
seen some that aren't. Or we've seen 30,000 square foot lots that aren't
buildable. I think that if you establish criteria to meet those two
guidelines, I don't care if you've got 10,000, 15,000 or 30,000 square foot"
lots, it's going to be a reality check. It's going to get you lots that
are much more consistently utilizeable without reliance on variances.
Batzli: Define utilizable. A deck, is that utilizable? '
Krauss: We actually did in an earlier draft of the ordinance, and I think
it was a 60 x 40 house, a 10 x 12 deck and a 30 foot back yard area. '
Emmings: A 60 x 40 house and garage, is that what you're talking about
there?
Batzli: Now we've got a lot of information from the other communities here ll
and clearly the other communities don't seem to be as uptight with minimums
as I am and I maybe convinced the Commission to be. The question is, of
course as always, where are we going to go from here? My concern was
initially from concerns I had, problems in the PUD's that currently
existed. My understanding of the intent of the PUD was to be creative and
to cluster and to provide open space and I don't know that we got that in
the past. I'm not sure that the new ordinance is going to get that. From
the sounds of it, there's a new proposal in house that basically provides
small clustered homes in a cornfield and then provides larger lots in the II
wooded area. Now it seems to me that the intent of the PUD would be to
cluster even more tightly either in the cornfield and provide open space in
the trees and preserve all of them or'to provide some sort of ballfield or II
something else in the cornfield. But I'm not sure why clustering homes in
the cornfield, in essence putting them on smaller sized lots than we would
require than the rest of the city and then allowing the developer to charge
a premium into the trees, meets what we really want to get out of the PUD, 1
.Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 22
other than if we want to save some trees. That's the only thing that I can
see that's beneficial to the city and once the developer sells those lots,
the people can do whatever they want to the trees so I'm not sure that
we've gained anything. What I'd like to see, and my only point in getting
on my high horse on this whole thing has been, how can we be proactive so
that people are encouraged to use the PUD where we get a creative
development and the city wins, the developer wins and the people moving
1 into the development win. That's what I'm asking. I'm asking for
creativity. I'm asking what is it that turns developers on that we can
give them so that we get an above average development. We save open spaces
' and trees and wetlands and everybody who moves in is happy as well. You
know Ladd suggested last time wa11 let's just put in a density and maybe
that's what we have to do. Maybe we just leave it wide open. Let them
come in. We look at the density. See if we like it and as long as we warn
the people moving in that they're in a PUD development. If you don't
understand what that means, then check with Paul Krauss. Maybe that's what
we do but I don't know that we're being proactive enough to say how are we
going to encourage these people. You know the developers, because it seems
in the past all we've done is we've given the developer a greater
opportunity to charge a premium for some lots and probably not reduce the
price on the homes that are on undersized lots. And I use undersized lots
euphamistically because they're undersized compared to the rest of our
standards. I mean it's not necessarily that they're undersized. They may
be useable. They may be utilizeable. They may be fine to put the house on
111 the pad, with the deck, 30 foot back yard but they are undersized compared
with our other standards. I don't know. I mean we've heard a lot of
people. I know you're frustrated. Probably with me but I don't know that
' this is going to work. I don't know that there is a way to make it work.
Krauss: I guess from a staff standpoint, I mean we do from a. professional
standpoint feel that these things have utility. But we're not here to
1 twist your arm and keep coming back with something that's not going to fly.
I mean we've been working on this one since last spring, and the trees are
about to bud out again. I think that from a design standpoint it certainly
' has validity. We're not in the business of manipulating the I
mean the only influence we have over a developer is we say, here's our
ordinance. You can either develop that way or you can use this more
' creative approach that may make you a little more money but you're going to
give us what we're looking for too. I mean that's the only carrot and
stick we have in this world. Now Brian talked about a plat, and I
' mentioned that I was going to bring a copy of it to you to look at. I've
only got these two blue line prints. I can spread them out up there if you
like and you can take a look.
1 Batzli: You guys want to see it?
Emmings: Yeah.
Batzli: Okay.
(Paul Krauss presented and explained the subdivision and PUD plan to the
Planning Commission at this point.)
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 -- page 23 1
Erhart: And what did we get? You say you think we can get open space
where?
Krauss: Well we've got a park, we are getting ultimately. You've got park!'
dedication here.
Batzli: Do you get that anyway?
• Krauss: What you get though is you draw boxes around these trees.
Ahrens: Why couldn't you get that...
,Krauss: Well ultimately we basically are getting it. Or getting something
close.
Batzli: In the straight subdivision?
Krauss: Yeah. It looks more like this but I'm convinced that we could
have done a better job had we still had some flexibility. I mean these arell
what, these are executive home lots? I don't know what the current
vernacular is but these are going to be more expensive homes up in the
hill. They'll bump up to the homes in Timberwood. If we had some
flexibility on lot area, we could encourage that trend a little bit more.
Erhart: And those are what, 20,000 square feet? '
Krauss: Yeah. And this is completely without any influence.
Ahrens: The developer makes more money off those treed lots too. I mean I1
can't believe they would come in and develop in a straight subdivision like
that, lots that they wouldn't make much money off of.
Krauss: Oh I think that's certainly true but I don't want to sound
patronizing but after doing this for 15 years I've stopped fighting the
free market impulse. I mean if we can come up with a scenario where they II
make more money but we get something that we would prefer to have out of it
anyway, that's fine with me.
Ahrens: Right, but if we can get it anyway. 1
Emmings: I think Joan is saying, wouldn't he do that anyway. Just because 1
he's going to get more money off of it.
Krauss: Well as I say, this story has a fairly happy ending. We're in the
process of reviewing these plans and we'll see how, they look fairly good II
at first blush.
Batzli: But in general? I mean this example aside, wouldn't this normal
average developer want to put larger houses in a treed area like that in
the hills against a larger subdivision?
Krauss: This developer happens to be a fairly quality, fairly reputable
developer and the answer to your question in this case is yes. But
developers run the gamet and we've had our share of developers who come in
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'Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 24
here and say the subdivision says this and I'm not giving you once thing
more. And from a legal standpoint that's an appropriate response.
' Farmakes: What about from the legal standpoint if you don't feel that the
developer's providing for the intent, can you refuse it on that basis
alone?
Krauss: Sure. You can be fairly arbitrary on a rezoning action.
Farmakes: Let's sa/ that we put black and white figures in here. Let's
' say we put specific figures about minimum square footage and some of the
stuff that we've been talking. We still don't like the plan. Does that
mean that legally the city can say then, we don't think so?
Krauss: I don't know. Maybe we ought to have the City Attorney here to
answer that specifically but Roger's always told us that we have a great
amount of latitude on a rezoning action, particularly when they have
recourse to do a standard subdivision anyway. I mean we're not taking away
the use of their property. It clearly has a legitimate use. The developer
is in a position of asking us for something above and beyond and you set
out a district that says we have the expectation that we'll get something
better than normal. You have that latitude.
Farmakes: Peter Olin's letter in here talks about focusing on intent
rather than the specifics. That being the case, that response from the
attorney then would be important. He apparently says, he's talking about
taking issues in court here but if they don't meet the intent of the
statement, it seems to be kind of subjective. The intent isn't going to
spelled out like square footage on a lot.
' Krauss: No. That's why I indicated that I agreed with Peter's approach
but I think you have to set some bare minimum criteria. And you have to be
specific as to what you want to achieve. Now Peter had some very mom and
' apple pie language that sounds pretty. I'm not certain that that alone is
enough.
Farmakes: I think it's reasonable to give a developer some specifics about_
' what you feel the intent is going to be or what can sail through. It would
seem to me that if you're going to offer a developer at the same time a
specific idea of what he's going to gain from it so that he has the
' motivation, as we said before, if there's no motivation for them they're
not going to do it. I would leave it up to them to come up with a creative
way to solve that and I guess I'm not that uncomfortable with the minimums.
I'm not sure about the 10 that we were originally proposing but if we could
still refuse it by claiming that it doesn't the intent and we've specific
with the intent, I'm not that uncomfortable with it. I'd rather see the
creativity and the burden on them of solving our problems. If they do it,
fine. If they don't.
Krauss: We don't want anything close to just opening the door to a blanket
PUD without that intent. If we had a'developer who's still working with us
come in on another property off Audubon Road who builds lower end housing
in Chaska. That kind of thing and there's a market for that but he came to
us and the first question is well, he threw a plan on the table that had an
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Planning Commission Meeting
•
March 4, 1992 - Page 25 1
average 10,000 square foot lot'size and said well, I'm going to do a PUD. I
We said no you're not. Well you just took away 40 lots. Our response was
you never had them in the first place. 5o that kind of a dialogue happens
all the time. But if you have something that says well if you want to do a
PUD, here's how you earn one and read the intent section and a couple of
guidelines.
Emmings: Maybe the best thing to do, it would be nice if we had some
examples. Here are examples we've approved in our town that we're proud
of.
Batzli: Do we have any of those? • '
Emmings: Well, go take a look. Wouldn't that be a way to show a developer
what we've got in mind?
Krauss: Yeah, but I think Brian's question is accurate.
Emmings: I don't know. It would be good if we could get one here that we I
like so we could say this is the kind of thing.
Batzli: Well, we may be proud of the Ersbo one when that's up. ,
Krauss: Except it was different. I mean that one ha a 30,000 square foot
lot size. '
Batzli: But the effective lot size is much smaller given that most of it's
in the swamp. I would favor going with an intent statement and a density.
A warning and basically a statement that indicates that lot sizes below
15,000 will be scrutinized carefully by the City and maybe rejected out of
hand. Something like that. Basically kind of, it basically puts I think
something further in there that if you go below our minimum, we're going toll
look at it carefully and we have the ability to reject it. That way they
can go below but they're still going to be looking at a density and I'm
more concerned about the people moving into the city in the end result.
That they're somehow put on notice so the developer should be required to II
during the sales process put them on notice that they're buying a PUD so
that they have the opportunity to talk to what they're getting into.
Conrad: The less we put down the more nervous the developer's going to be.
Is that a fair statement Paul?
Krauss: Well, they might...
Conrad: The more specific he sees stuff, the more he knows if we can match
it and helps him in the design stage so the less we put down, is he less
likely to take a crack at it?
Krauss: Until you get a track record of having said yes or no on some. 1
Emmings: Well it may depend on the developer too.
Conrad: Developers put a lot of money into design.
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 26
' Emmings: We just had one come in and we approved a PUD and he not only
didn't have any standards, we didn't have anything in our ordinance about
residential PUD's. And he got approved.
1 Ahrens: You know I don't think we have to be so worried about scaring away
developers. I really don't. I think that they're going to come in here.
They want the land. They want to develop. I think that if a developer
comes in for this specific piece of property and we said we have a minimum
lot size of 15,000 square feet. He or she says I'm not interested in
developing as a PUD. Then I want to go with the straight subdivision and
we say that's fine but we have these stands of trees that you have to work
around. Wouldn't we end up with just as good a product in the end because
,we'd have 15,000 square foot lot minimums?
Krauss: I think it gets to Brian's question from last meeting. Can't you
achieve the same thing without it?
Ahrens: Yeah, I guess I'm not convinced that you can't.
Krauss: I tend not to believe that we can. I mean the flexibility to
' alter standards gives you tremendous room to innovate. We don't have and
no community has a standard that says you just can't cut down a significant
stand of trees•. Now we're trying to develop an ordinance that would
overlay the city that would get at that somehow. But the best way to avoid
cutting a stand of trees is to allow the developer to build that house
someplace else. I mean that's the carrot and the stick. You can mandate
you so much and beyond that you've taken the person's property or you've
' damaged the land. If you allow that unit to be transferred to more
appropriate site, everybody comes out better if it's done right.
' Emmings: I kind of agree with what Brian said. I'd go for an intent
statement. A density and maybe I first thought it was a bad idea to put in
the warning but I don't mind that the more I think about it. This plan
over here which you're calling a PUD is.
Batzli: This doesn't look like a PUD to me.
' Emmings: No. This is almost no creativity whatsoever over here. And I
think that's proven by the fact that there's the same number of lots on
each one somehow but still this is a better plan than this one, which as
you say is an overstatement. This is still a better plan. And could this
1 plan be approved under our subdivision ordinance?
Krauss: The better one?
1 Emmings: The one he's calling a PUD. It couldn't because of the small
lots. But still this is a better plan than a straight subdivision on that
1 property I think.
Krauss: Yes it is.
Emmings: 5o this, even though it doesn't show much creativity or as much
as you'd like to see, if we don't have a PUD ordinance we're going to wind
up with things that are, we wouldn't be able to approve something like this
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 27
which would probably be a better plan. So I think it's important that we II
have a PUD alternative. I think it ought to be, I don't think we should
say anything about minimum lot size. Just talk about density. Maybe give
the warning that the smaller the lots get, the harder we're going to look ;
at them. Especially if they go below 15,000. I think that's a good
approach.
Farmakes: Is there enough of an incentive with your experience with '
developers between 15 and the 10 that we originally proposed?
Krauss: It's a 50% reduction. I mean that's significant.
Farmakes: What I'm saying is there enough of an incentive there. If you
put the warning at 15, is there enough of an incentive there that they feel'
if they get 12 or they do 13 that they may have a chance?
Krauss: I honestly don't know Jeff. I mean it sounds reasonable. I guess
we won't know until we try it. '
Emmings: But they're talking to you at the same time aren't they? I mean
they're getting some direction from you too. '
Krauss: Oh sure. I mean this developer frankly, I mean he wanted, he
originally talked about wanting to come before you and exploring it on a
concept basis. I think it was after I last brought this up in December I II
called him up and said forget it. Again I think he's come up with a pretty
reasonable subdivision but some of this stuff that was nice and kind of
helped to define that PUD was dropped out. I mean he had boulevard II landscaping. Well, he had a boulevarding of major streets and a couple of
other features and they're not being proposed right now. What we're
getting now is the landscaping along Lyman and Galpin that our new
landscaping ordinance in the subdivision requires and the buffering and
that's about it. It gives the capability to negotiate. There isn't a
whole lot of latitude to do that in a straight subdivision.
Batzli: I've said this facetiously before and I've said it kind of half
seriously and I've said it seriously. I mean I still think that the best
way to get them to go PUD, if that's how we want to do it so that we have II
greater flexibility to protect some of these natural features, is to raise
our other lot size, and I'll say it one last time before I give up, a
broken and defeated man on this issue. Go ahead.
Erhart: You mean raise our minimum lot size in the city?
Batzli: Yeah. '
Erhart: That was my point at the last meeting and nobody talked about it
so I almost wasn't going to bring it up. I think the choices are one,
forget the PUD and stick with what we've got. Or two, if we really believe!'
that practically every major subdivision that we're going to see has some
unique characteristics about it that we would like, rather than us try to ,
dictate what gets done to preserve it. To allow the developer to be
creative in how to preserve some wooded land or some open area or whatever.
The only way that it's going to work, and three. Is that I personally
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»Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 28
e
believe that 10,000 square foot lots are too small. I think that a 12,500
square foot lot for example, perhaps is what we ought to have as what we
would consider a small lot. I've always, on one hand I've always said that
' we want to prevent urban sprawl. One of the ways to do it is to allow your
average lot size to be small. On the other hand, I've always been a little
concerned that 15,000 might be a little bit too small for a standard lot.
When you tie all those together it tells me that the only way to do this
PUD is to raise the average, our standard lot size here to, I'm going to
say 17,500. I have no magic number but I'm just going to say that number.
You make the increment to motivate him 500 square feet, or 5,000 square
feet allows him to go down to 12,500. And so that gives him the incentive.
It solves the problem of the concern of some of the Council members and I
think myself below 12,500 is a little bit, it's a pretty small lot. The
' second thing is that limits the number of lots that can be that small to
some percent of the lots in that development. At least 10 %. Maybe it's
30 %. I don't know. I didn't look at examples but I think we've got those
two choices. Either we can forget the PUD or the other side is, you're
going to make it work we're going to have to raise our standard lot size so
we can offer incentive.
Ahrens: I agree that if we go with smaller lot sizes we should be more
specific. I mean we seem to have a meeting of the minds here between the
staff and the present Planning Commission what we mean when we say there
shouldn't be too many small lots and we'll look closely at them and we're
giving you a warning that you'd better come in with a proper sized
development. But nobody else is going to understand after we've moved on
to greater things what we meant by that.
1 Emmings: But the density will prevent you from having too many small lots.
If you have a density for the project of 1.8 or whatever, you don't have to
worry about it do you?
Conrad: But you could still have some theoretically. I'm comfortable with
that. I always have been. Ever since we started talking about this but
1
everybody else is worried about minimum lot sizes and I'm not.
Emmings: No, I'm not either.
1 Erhart: But density is just another way of saying the same thing. I'm
comfortable with density.
' Conrad :, No. Density will allow you to have a 5,000 square foot lot.
Erhart: No, but you've still got to have minimum lot sizes.
11 Ahrens: Yeah if you have density, couldn't you still end up with three
huge lots and maybe two little tiny ones?
Conrad: He'd probably not want to do that. But in that situation, that's
so obvious we wouldn't even consider that and I think Paul could reflect
that pretty well.
Ahrens: But what about?
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1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 29
Conrad: Future generations? '
Ahrens: 10 years from now.
Batzli: But see that may be, if they want that, then we should give them II
the flexibility. I mean this is a living, breathing statute. Why lock
them in? Maybe that's what they're going to love in 10 years when we've
all moved on. I don't know.
Conrad: Absolutely.
Emmings: I'm not worried about 5,000 square foot lots. '
Conrad: I'm not either.
Batzli: Does anybody other than Tim and I, would anyone like to see staff
taking a look at raising the lot size in our other districts? Ladd?
Conrad: No.
Batzli: Steve? ,
Emmings: I don't know. I haven't really thought about it.
Conrad: It's a lousy way to back into a PUD ordinance. If we feel that well
are crammed right now, then we should be looking. You know we don't raise
lot sizes so we can have a creative PUD. If we feel that we're developing
at a too dense a rate right now and people are, our decks are leaning over
each other's property lines, well then let's take a look and let's get the
whole community back in here and start looking at what our zoning and our
lot sizes should be for every category. I can't imagine the city wants to
do that right now. I haven't heard one person, not one person other than
you Brian talk about lot sizes. Really in the last so many years, nobody's
talking. •
Emmings: And we spent so much time arriving at the subdivision ordinance '
and it seems to be working. It seems to be working okay.
Conrad: I love large lots. That's why I'm out here. It's the only
reason I'm in Chanhassen is because we have some big areas. But I just, at
this point in time this is, if people want smaller lots. Things are
changing to say the smaller. The costs are getting greater. For us
philosophically to say to the developers we now want 17,000 square foot
lots, that's a different course for Chanhassen and I don't think we should
do it because of the PUD ordinance. We should do it because we feel as a II
community that we want to send a signal to people that this is sort of an
open space community.
Batzli: Well, that's the issue brought up by Olin in his memo and that's II
why I guess I'm wondering why you're not talking about it and that is, he
says the suggestion of the PUD is to preserve the physical and social
character of Chanhassen. Well we aren't going to preserve it by putting in
12,000 square foot lots.
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,Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 30
' Conrad: Ah, but you can preserve.
Emmings: Wait a minute. That's not what we're doing.
Batzli: I know. But that's the intent that he's written and no one has
said I disagree or that's not what we're here for. That's just, I thought
it was interesting.
Emmings: But you can't say that anybody's proposing to put in 12,000
square foot lots,
•
' Erhart: Steve, what's your reaction to the plan where you have how many
10,000 square foot lots in that one area?
1 Krauss: 10? I don't know.
Erhart: Just take a guess. 30?
' Krauss: It's probably more like 40 or 50.
' Erhart: And what is your reaction to that?
Emmings: I haven't looked at this. My reaction with,regard to what?
' Erhart: Just seeing forty 10,000 square foot lots all bunched together,
what was your reaction or anybody's reaction to that?
Emmings: It's 40 what on here? The density of this thing is 1.9. It's a
little bit above what a straight subdivision is.
' Erhart: But the concept that you could put in forty 10,000 square foot
lots all together in one spot. How does that strike you?
Emmings: Is that what's on here?
Erhart: Yeah. -
Emmings: I don't know. It doesn't'scare me. I mean I wouldn't reject it
out of hand.
Batzli: Jeff, do you want to look at raising the lot size in the rest of
' the districts or no?
Farmakes: I wouldn't be adverse to do it. I guess I fall back that if
we're going to proceed with the PUD, there has to be an incentive for the
builder or we shouldn't do it period. If we can't come up with an
incentive, I don't think we should waste our time with it. I think that
there's a reason to have a PUD. I think we should pursue that. If it's a
warning, that seems reasonable to me. But there has to be a difference
between 10,000 and 15,000 if that's what we're going to have as our base.
If it's going to be 20,000 and a 15,000 minimum, that's an incentive. I
think we're just, to quote a phrase that you've had in here 3 times, we're
just beating a dead horse. We're talking about some different issues that
converge at times but I still feel that if you've got it within the 5,000
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 — Page 31
square feet somewhere in there that the builder's going to come in with
something there that he gets, the city gets, and leave it up to him to come
in and show us what it is we're getting. And that's the incentive.
Somewhere in what you're talking about here is that 5,000 square feet. If!'
it's a difference between 15 and 20 or 10 and 15. Leave it up to him to
come in here and say that this is, I'm meeting your requirements of a
percentage for the amount of smaller lots with a cap and I'm meeting your
density requirements. Then we can argue about whether or not he's met our
intent.
Batzli: Okay. So you'd like to see, and correct me when I go astray here."
You'd like to see an intent section and a density and potentially a cap on
the percentage or a floor?
Farmakes: I'm not as worried about a cap on .there. As long as we can pull
the rug out on the intent statement that he's not meeting it. And I think
that somewhat that warning in there gives them your intent. If it's 15 or
it's 20 or if it's 10, I do agree that the overall size of our lot is
something that's probably a separate issue because that's going to affect
also considerably the difference in land cost to a potential home buyer.
And I think that your, as we raise that up we should look at that very II carefully because the cost of housing in this area is pretty steep and it
leaves out certain groups of, economic groups of people purchasing into a
home here. And when we start adding on 20% to the land cost we should look
at that.
Batzli: Joan?
Ahrens: What was the question?
Batzli: The question was, do you want the staff to look at raising the'lot'
size in Chanhassen? And the second question is, are you comfortable
proceeding on this so we can give some direction to staff so we can finally
move it on? Putting in the density and an intent section. "
Ahrens: What's the warning in there?
Batzli: Well the warning would be, if they get too small we're going to II
look at it very closely. I mean it's basically part of the intent.
Emmings: The smaller they get, the harder we look. ,
Batzli: Yeah.
Ahrens: I also worry about pricing people out of the market here. I don't"
like that idea either.
Batzli: I don't think we're doing anything other than what. "
Ahrens: By raising the minimum lot size.
Batzli: The density puts it at a regular subdivision. 1
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.Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 32
' Ahrens: However, I'm not opposed to looking at raising the minimum lot
size. I guess I'm not opposed to that but it seems like every time we take
a look at this there's, we throw a new curve into it.
' Batzli: I'm not proposing to tie that into the PUD. I say we move the PUD
along and if we decide to look at the minimum lot size in the other
districts, we do that but that's not part of what we're doing tonight.
I Ahrens: So you're saying as a separate issue, let us examine raising the
minimum lot sizes in Chanhassen which I'm not opposed to looking at
' something. At that. On the other hand, the other issue that you brought
up of the PUD, I guess I'm still not comfortable with the whole density
,idea. I mean I like the intent statement. I think the warning statement
is okay but I don't know.
Batzli: Just kind of a showing of hands here for direction to staff, who
would like to see staff proceed with intent, density and warning? Okay. Go
' for it guys.
Conrad: There you go. It's back to you Paul. What more can we do?
t Batzli: What else do you want to know? We're out of time.
Krauss: As far as that goes, that's fine. But you've raised the issue of
' raising lot areas. I guess if I could, I'd like to throw my two cents into
it. Our minimum lot size is already substantially greater than most every
community in the Twin Cities with a few exceptions. Those few exceptions
tend to be Minnetonka and Orono and communities of that, or if you're going
to go out further to Lake Elmo or places that have an intent of staying
hobby farmish or quasi - rural. There is a direct translation between lot
' area and cost and it's a significant one. The process is escalating. The
land cost is escalating rapidly. Thirdly, our lot areas are not only one
of the largest lot areas in the Twin Cities but our density is even lower
than it would imply because we've been a no net loss wetlands community and
we've preserved other features. You have a very substantial park
dedication. We're on the outer fringes of both of those. So when we tell
a developer yeah, we have a 15,000 square foot lot size, it actually takes_
them a lot more land to get to that 15,000 square foot than it does in most
other communities. Now the new State wetlands law will tend to equalize
that a little bit but our density, our average density of 1.7 -1.8 units per
' acre, 1.9, in that range, is one of the lowest the Metro Council's ever
seen. They had to develop a new standard for us because their usual rules
of thumb didn't apply in Chanhassen. The last aspect of it is, is we've
got 10 -12 years of utility projects, assessed utility projects that are
based on a density of 15,000 square feet. All these projects were assessed
on the presumption that there was x number of units on a piece of ground.
If we changed the rules, I think we might owe a lot of people a lot of
' money. So I just throw that out for some thought.
Batzli: My personal feeling is by asking staff to look into this and I
think that, I thought I heard the other night at the City Council that at
least the Mayor and Councilman Wing expressed that 15,000 might be too
small.
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 33
Emmings: I didn't hear that. '
Batzli: I thought I heard that.
Councilman Wing: Pretty loud and clear. One said 20 and one said 18. ,
Batzli: Yeah, so I thought that we had some people at the Council also
interested in taking a look at it. Now the number on this group that wants
to look at it appears to be maybe 3 or 4 and some people are comfortable
with it. Ladd's probably fought through the subdivision ordinance once. He
doesn't want to touch it again and that's fine and he's, I mean he's got a II
large lot. He doesn't need to look at it again. Me on the other hand, I'm
still looking for that large lot.
Emmings: Couldn't you buy the lot next door? '
Batzli: I think I'm going to. Okay. What I'd like to do is at least
with, I don't want a 3 week study on it. What I'd like to know though is
if you do have some information on you know, and I'm sure you've given this
to us before, what are the neighboring community lot sizes and what are the
issues. I don't even want them discussed in depth other than so we can 11 throw it around and see if we want to look at it more. Because I think
we've got at least 2 people on the Council who expressed that they've felt
that it may be a little low and I'd like to know what goes into the
decision to make it low or high and if we do change it, are we going to owe,
thousands of people so much money we can't even take a look at it at this
point. So that's what I'd like to see. If other people disagree with me,
speak up. 1
Emmings: If you decide to go back into the subdivision ordinance to look
at lot size, Ladd and I have a mutual suicide pact. - 1
Conrad: I kill Steve first.
Emmings: We won't be here. I tell you, you think this is hard to do.
This PUD.
Batzli: Are you adverse to at least the staff bringing up the issues of II what are the factors that go into deciding this? I mean obviously you two
don't want to get into it?
Emmings: Go into deciding what? '
Batzli: What the minimum lot size is and if you raised it, what would the '
issues be that we'd have to look at. What would be the process. I mean
it's clear that you two have no interest in raising it.
Conrad: I have no interest so you do what you like. If there's votes
from, I think Tim would go along with you.
Erhart: Well let me say, I guess after Paul's comments, I guess I wasn't,
it was kind of surprising to me that our's would already be larger. If you
consider average around the western suburbs or any suburbs I guess of the
metropolitan area.
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 34
Krauss: Well again, you will Hind some that are as big, if not bigger and
' you try to figure out what's a comparable community and it's always tough
and we can give you, I think you've got some statistics in here.
1 Erhart: What's Eden Prairie?
Krauss: 13,500.
1 Erhart: For minimum lot size?
Krauss: We can give you the Victoria's and Chaska. Well I think Chaska is
1 less but I'm not sure of that. We can certainly give that to you. It's
not so hard.
1 Emmings: Now excuse me but in the materials you gave us tonight, under
PUD lot size survey, it says Eden Prairie 13,500.
Krauss: Yeah, it's the same thing as their.
Emmings: Same in the subdivision? Oh, okay.
1 Ahrens: So what the incentive?
Krauss: I don't think there is one in Eden Prairie. '
II Erhart: Well, if that's the case and our two elder commissioners here
don't want to touch it.
Conrad: No, no. Don't use us because...maybe we're out of touch.
Batzli: But I would just like a 15 -20 minute discussion and just some of
1 the basic issues that we'd have to look at and...
Conrad: I think Council is interested so I think from your standpoint
Brian it's probably not a bad thing and maybe that's information that
they're going to ask Paul anyway. So your asking staff to generate it is
probably a wise idea. Whether Steve and I are interested in it or not. I
' think Dick, Richard cares about it and other Council members do.
Emmings: And we'll participate in the discussion.
1 Batzli: Let's do that at an upcoming meeting at some time. Put it on our
list of things to do. Do you have enough direction on the PUD as to what
the heck we're trying to do now?
1 Conrad: Let's have Paul replay back what we might be asking him for. One
thing just sort of intrigued me. Aren't there, and I'm a believer in PUD's
and I'm not sure that we're ever going to find a perfect one but Paul you
never brought us an ordinance that may have come, been generated in an ivy
tower environment out of American Planning Association or whatever. Aren't
there model PUD ordinances?
t Batzli: We got one. Didn't that consultant guy give us one? Last summer.
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 35 1
Krauss: Shardlow? Yeah he did and I don't recall what it had for a lot II size.
Conrad: That would be interesting but I liked what Peter Olin talked about
in terms of a little bit more vague ordinance but if you did what we just II
asked you to do, a very strong intent statement and I think you've already
got that from what I recall. We have an intent statement. We have, are we
talking net density or are we talking gross density?
II
Batzli: Net.
Krauss: ...pretty consistent throughout as net. 1
`Conrad: So we're talking net density, okay.
Batzli: That takes out the. II
Conrad: That just takes out streets.
II
Krauss: And wetlands.
Conrad: Does it take out wetlands? Okay. That's good. Will our
II
comprehensive plan drive the net density? Won't the comprehensive plan
place in the net density that we should be using here?
Krauss: It does but the comprehensive plan may actually give more latitude!'
than you want to.
Conrad: As a range out there.
II
Krauss: It goes 0 to 4 I believe and 4 is probably higher than you would
prefer in these areas.
II
Ahrens: Do you exclude easements?
Krauss: No. For what? If it's an easement over a wetland or a roadway, II
yeah but otherwise not. If it's a park dedication, I think parks are
Ai
actually excluded. That's a question that we had and it's a matter of
interpretation. I mean it's not for this time and place but are parks
excluded from the net buildable? I would argue that they can't be because
we haven't taken possession of the park. I mean that's part of the
dedication process. You have 10 acres of land, you owe us so many acres of"
park.
Ahrens: It's the chicken and the egg... 1
Krauss: Well but it's a double hit to say give us your park and then we'll
figure out your density of what you have entitled to on what's left. II Emmings: The park that's up there on this plan, is that part of the 81
acres that's here?
Krauss: Yes. '
II
1
Planning Commission Meeting
.March 4, 1992 - Page 36
Batzli: That's fair. That's okay that you do that.
' Emmings: The only thing I don't like there is it's shoved off on the edge.
Why the hell isn't it in the middle somewhere? •
Krauss: Well there's a reason for that. There's a slope with a heavily
forested ravine that's really quite attractive in a natural area going back
in there. They had talked about trying to shoehorn a few lots in there and
in talking to our parks folks, we figured that it was better to do it this
way.
' Batzli: I guess they do have a path back there.
Conrad: So Brian, I'm just trying to make sure staff or Paul's going in
1 the right direction here. At least one that we're all consistent with.
Your comments on the warnings. So we're talking about net density, intent
and then some warning statements. Is that what you said?
Batzli: Yeah.
Conrad: Saying if you go, now our past PUD ordinance did allow a minimum
' of 12,500 as a minimum lot size isn't that right Paul and did we restrict
the number of those units?
•
Krauss: I think there was an average as well. An average minimum.
Conrad: There was an average in there.
Krauss: And it was like 13,500 so, I believe.
Conrad: Yeah.
Krauss: So you were sort of forcing that number up. It got at the issue a
different way. -So your warning is if you go under 15 we're going to look
real hard at what you're doing?
Batzli: Yeah. I think that just puts it on the table because that's what
we're going to do anyway.
Conrad: But you're not interested in going down to 10.
Batzli: I'll be candid. If Lundgren came in and said they were going to
develop some houses like they did up in Near Mountain and do a good job and
the people knew what they were getting into, I might not have a problem
with it. Those people appear to be happy. The houses don't turn over
every 10 months or anything like that but it's going to be a case by case
basis and I don't even know that the City Council has comfort that we even
want to give developers an opportunity but I say let's float it up there
and let them shoot it down and tell us what they want at this point. Let's
get it up there so they can consider it and I think that it potentially
could be done right. I haven't seen necessarily a small lot development in
this city done right yet but it could - be done and I think it's a case of
the developer coming in and Paul dealing with the developer and basically
we've got to put our trust in the people in the planning department.
1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 37 1
Conrad: How do you get to small lots Paul? How do you get to higher
density? How do you get to density transfer? How do you get more density II
on part of this property and less in another Paul?
Krauss: That's what your intent statement does. And you're basically
clarifying the issue. You're saying there are things on properties that we
find of value and we can list what those are. I mean the list is, mature
stands of trees. Interesting terrain and to the extent that you can
demonstrate that by the use of the PUD that you've accomplished extra
ordinary preservation of these things, then the City will consider or may
consider flexibility in other areas such as lot area. 1
Conrad: Do you recommend that we have a minimum set out there for
developer purposes given the nature you feel? ,
Krauss: I would say that you probably, just as a matter of comfort level I
would think you would. I mean I don't want, I continue to go back to, I
need a bare minimum to tell the developer whether or not that lot that they,
proposed is a utilizeable lot. Now if we get at that by saying, I'd
rather, instead of maybe saying not saying 10,000 feet. I like the
approach of saying you'll have a useable lot area that can accommodate a
home. Same thing as you just did with the on site sewer and those lots.
Demonstrate this.
Batzli: So in addition to what we just told you to do, you would like
something in there that talks about, you have enough, you can demonstrate II
that a house and the backyard and a deck can fit on there?
Krauss: Right. 1
Batzli: That'd be fine with me. That'd be fine with me to include that.
Now the Council may look at it and say, I still hate it. You've got to put
a 13,000 square foot limit in there. That's fine but let's send it up
there and let them do it.
Conrad: But then we really haven't done diddily with our PUD ordinance.
The previous ordinance is probably better.
Krauss: Well the previous ordinance allowed all the transgress that
occurred. -
Conrad: So are we going to net out anything? Are we going to net out ,
someplace better with this ordinance?
Krauss: I think if an ordinance comes together and it's ultimately
approved along the lines that we're just mentioned, I think that's yeah.
That gives the creativity with the control. If we're going to go back into
the straight jacket that we had originally which doesn't, seems to give a
developer some latitude but doesn't give the City anything, I'd advised you 11
to just drop it.
Batzli: Any other discussion on this? Go for it Paul. 1
1
Planning Commission Meeting
'March 4, 1992 - Page 38
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Chairman Batzli noted the Minutes of the Planning
Commission meeting dated February 19, 1992 as presented.
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE:
1 Krauss: I'll skip through that. The only thing of interest I think there
was Commissioner Batzli was at it and Dick was at it, Councilman Wing. We
had a Council goals setting meeting last Saturday? Last Saturday or the
Saturday before. Last Saturday and we discussed a variety of things. They
told me that I couldn't have any more than 30 minutes because last year I
hogged the floor I guess but we did talk a lot about TH 5 corridor in
particular and there is a lot of support for doing it. It's still a matter
of doing what exactly and how much is it going to cost. One of the things
`we laid on the table is a relatively recent occurrence and it has to do
with the Federal Highway Act. The Federal Transportation Bill stands all
previous highway funding bills on it's head. Don Ashworth is amazed that
the original highway bills go back to 1956 under the Eisenhower
Administration and really have changed in any significant way since then.
The new bill basically sets out not only funding for highways but for
transit and pedestrian access and for building bridges and for projects
that seek to tie a community together rather than having a highway split it
apart. That have specifically allocated funds for design amenities.
There's a specific provision in there to build wooden bridges. I mean
there's all kinds of things in there and the highway folks are amazed that
it came down the way it did. Bill Morrish has been talking to me about it
because he apparently had some input with Moyanhan's committee in
Washington where the bill was drafted. The long and the short of it is,
we'd like to think that we have some potential for making TH 5 a
demonstration project and tapping into those sources of funds. So we're
going to try and figure out exactly what that entails. MnDot really
doesn't know yet. And put together a package to get going on the work.
Batzli: Do you want to let the other commissioners know what happened on
the TH 5 corridor study as far as the consulting and things like that? Do
' you want to touch on that as far as the presentation at the Council meeting
last Monday. A week ago Monday. Whenever it was.
Krauss: Oh, oh, oh. Yeah, well basically I forwarded your recommendation'
1 and the work that's been done to date and again the Council was very
supportive of doing it but balked or really had some trouble understanding
where we'd come up with the money to finance it. We were directed to
clarify that a little bit. The Mayor asked that I get some more specific
cost estimates. We also were asked to, you know Don Ashworth was asked to
see if there's anyplace in the budget to do that. Don is, for those of you
who haven't worked with him, he's really a financial wizard. I mean it's
kind of amazing of his ability to pull stuff out of hats. Unfortunately
he's running out of hats and every time the State government looks to give
somebody a knock on the head to make the budget balance, they look to local
government and we're expecting another pretty good hit shortly. So the
well may be running somewhat dry but again if we use it, if we structure it
that we're tapping into another, working towards tapping into another
1 source of funds, there may be some way of shaking something loose. One of
the things I stressed to the Council is everybody on my staff is anxious to
work on a TH 5 project. It's one of those trend setting projects that are
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 — Page 39 ,
a heck of a lot of fun and really a professional challenge but I'm going t
be real short handed this summer. Jo Ann, as you can see is only going to
last another 5, 6, 7 weeks if we're lucky and the amount of new development
coming in the door is getting staggering. It's getting frightening.
Emmings: What kind of development? '
Krauss: Well I ran through a litany of some of it. Some of it you know
of. You know Ryan's obviously going to final plat their's and get going.
Hans Hagen Homes, this one that we talked about here has submitted and is
on, not your next agenda. We don't have anything on your next agenda for
right now but your following agenda. That's for 150 units. The Donovan
property up on Teton where the barricade is. Donovan's the fellow who tol
you he'd never subdivide so you didn't have to improve Teton. Well he lost
his property in a Sheriff's sale I believe and that's being proposed for 111
units. That's on your agenda. We are coming, the fellow we've been
telling you about for 2 years was trying to put together a proposal for the
Assumption Seminary actually has submitted a PUD concept plan and it's II really kind of interesting. I think he's probably going to try to touch
base with all of you just to talk over some of the guidelines they're
working with you and I think they're working towards setting up a bus trip
to their, they have a convention hotel facility they built in Stillwater
and they'd like to show us how that place looks. It's a historic
rennovation and restaurant so if that comes together,•if you're willing to
do that, that's something that's on the horizon. In addition Lundgren is
cranking very hard on bringing in their subdivision north of TH 5. The one,
that you saw a year ago in the Comp Plan.
Emmings: By TH 41? '
Krauss: Yes. So we expect to have that shortly. On Rod Gram's property,
they're supposed to be submitting in the next week another plat for about II
150 homes. I got a call this afternoon that Rottlund has purchased or has
a purchase option on the Dolejsi property. A 55 acre piece off of Lyman
and TH 101. We also hear that SoftSoap is going to make a decision on a
site in Chanhassen within the next 90 days for 350,000 square foot facility'
and the rumors are ripe as to which site Target's actually going to go on.
Batzli: When do we start seeing all the beachlots also? '
Emmings: What was that last one?
Erhart: Yeah, slow down. ,
Emmings: What was that last one on Target?
Krauss: Target is looking at a number of sites in the city. We've know
this for a while but we don't, I mean Target doesn't talk to us. The
brokers talk to us and they have looked at, sites that they've looked at II
are, they looked at the Ward property and apparently that's not going
forward. They looked at the Eckankar site and haven't been successful with
that. They are currently looking at the Burdick piece.
Emmings: They've looked at that before.
1
1
• Planning Commission Meeting
'March 4, 1992 - Page 40
Krauss: Well they looked at that before 2 years ago when it looked like
they could do that in lieu of Market Square. Oh, Market Square closed.
Virtually. No, no, actually the ground breaking is supposed to be on St.
Patrick's Day.
Emmings: We can go and buy some virtual groceries at the virtual grocery
store.
Krauss: No, it's as good as a done deal. I mean it is a done deal for all
intensive purposes so that's happening.
1 Erhart: Where is SoftSoap going?
Krauss: SoftSoap is looking at the Redmond expansion piece that they never
' built on on that unbuilt section of Lake Drive. By the railway tracks.
They're looking at two, well the Ryan plat that you're aware of and a
potential site on a Ryan plat that really hasn't come together yet by TH 5.
They're looking at the land that McGlynn's owns on the corner. And they're
looking at that project that Paul Steiner and the Opus Corporation are
looking to do on that 190 acres out by TH 5 and TH 41.
•
Erhart: What's the Dolejsi?
Krauss: Dolejsi is a 55 acre chunk, well in fact when you go home to your
II x house, when you make that last turn.
Erhart: The one that we were talking about?
Krauss: Which one? Well just as you make that final 90 degree turn, it's
off to your left. North of Kevin Finger.
Erhart: The one we were talking about the other day. Yeah. So there is
something going on there?
Krauss: Yeah, but the original developers for that are not, I mean this is
now, I just forgot their name. Rottlund Homes. It wasn't the original
group. You go into your office and you get a stack of messages and you get
another 150 unit plat. It's kind of mind boggling. There's going to
' probably be some difficulty in getting it all done frankly. The difficulty
is the city only has so much bonding capacity to finance projects and the
Upper Bluff Creek project alone I think is a 4 or 5 million dollar project.
Erhart: 'Oh the sewer and water?
Krauss: So even if we have enough people on tap to pay for these things,
we still have to go into a debt situation to get them going and we already
have one of the highest per capita debts in the Twin Cities. I mean it's
fully financed. I mean it's backed by development that's on the ground but
it doesn't look great at the moment.
Batzli: When do we start looking at beachlots?
1 Aanenson: We're shooting for April 15th.
1
11
Planning Commission Meeting .
March 4, 1992 - Page 41 1
Batzli: 5o we're going to have all those on our agendas also.
Aanenson: We're going to try and take 2 or 3 a meeting.
Batzli: We're going to be busy. Okay, we don't have anything on our
agenda for next week at all yet? Do we want to have a little vacation,
mini vacation here?
Erhart: We have nothing on the agenda? '
Aanenson: Unless you want to follow up with that comp plan land use 11 amendment. The one we just tabled tonight.
Erhart: Oh the rural thing.
Krauss: Can we play this by ear for a couple of days? We've got a lot 1
happening at the same time. If we can give you some structure, I mean get
back to you on some of these things, then I'll talk to Brian and we'll go
ahead. Otherwise we'll let you know.
Batzli: If your time would be better spent working on corridor study
issues, I'm just concerned that we're going to make work for you to get 1
something on our agenda for next week that's taking away from something
that needs to get more of your attention.
Krauss: Well it gets mind boggling all the stuff that's happening right '
now. Some of it doesn't involve you directly. It involves me. We're
going into construction hopefully in the next few weeks on the senior
center behind that wall. I've been involved with that intimately. As far II
as the TH 5 corridor study goes, one of the things we need to do is we need
to, we're getting into some more meetings with MnDot trying to define the
study. We've been working with the school district quite a bit. I was at II
the School District meeting on Monday night to try and figure out what
their needs are. They just came back with demographic projections that
projected a 50% increase in school population in a relatively short period
of time and the weird thing is I think they significantly under estimated
what's going to happen. And they're shocked about dealing with what they
think is going to happen. So there's a lot of things swirling around.
Emmings: Is this the Chaska School District you're talking about?
Farmakes: Has there been any discussion for the Middle School? '
Krauss: Yeah. That's in fact the case in point. When Ryan was moving
ahead, in fact Ryan did submit plans to us for that area north of
Timberwood. Remember the concept is that it had to be office or walk like I
it or look like it and basically of very high quality. One of the
conditions was that the school site had to be locked up. Well that's kind
of our role in the public /private partnership. Well the school originally II
told us that that 40 acre site at the corner was plenty big. And now
they're telling us that it doesn't meet their needs and their needs are
truly astonishing. They wanted 4 baseball fields, 2 softball fields, 2
football fields, 4 tennis courts.
l
1
Planning Commission Meeting
II 'March 4, 1992 - Page 42
Ahrens: They're right across the street from a park.
Krauss: Well to an extent we want to piggyback city recreational
facilities onto this but we frankly don't understand why a Middle School
needs that much. Now we've been told that the State is now mandating
exactly what a school has to be outfitted with. In fact we called the
State and we're getting conflicting information. But they are looking at a
bigger site. The School District really doesn't have a handle on what's
happening to it.
I Farmakes: I had heard terms used as a high school. Then I heard middle
school then I heard high school again. I was just wondering in the
interplay between the make -up of that committee. I know it's oriented
towards Chaska. There are more people on that committee that live in
Chaska and I was wondering what that, how that played with the numbers that
they're talking about.
Krauss: The numbers weren't influenced by that. I mean the numbers were
prepared by Barbara Lukerman who's an old Metro Council and University of
Minnesota.
Farmakes: No, I didn't mean it for that. What I was talking about where
obviously the numbers projected are different for a high school than they
are for a middle school. I just heard that flip flopping information about
high school and then I heard middle school.
Krauss: There is no definitive position. When we did the comp plan, we
1 worked with a fellow who was then the, not the superintendent but the
administrator for the school district and he had told us that their most
likely need is for a middle school. And in fact 2 years later we're
finding from the architectural force that the middle school is severely
undersized and inadequate to meet their goals. The high school is equally
undersized. What we've been told is there's a possibility it could be a
high school. It could be a middle school. The politics of the situation,
1 if I could speculate on that is that there is a very high potential that
there'd be an extreme amount of relunctance on the part of Chaska to lose
Chaska High School. So even if it makes sense to do it from an operational
physical plan standpoint, and I'm not sure it does at this point, 1 don't .
know that there's a great likelihood that that would happen. But this
group that we're working with is not only doing physical plans. They're
trying to figure out what their program needs are. How they want to break
dawn classes. They're in the process of changing athletic conferences to
the Lake Conference and I think they need expanded facilities for that. So
there's a lot going on.
Farmakes: That's obviously something where the two communities are going
to meet, run into each other in that area. I'm just wondering if we're
' anticipating that it eventually, if they look that far down the road that
we have a high school, we have a middle school because right now we're sort
of dealing with that from a rural standpoint where all that education is
centered in one area and we bus everybody from all the communities in. As
we overtake them in population, which it seems to me.
Krauss: We did.
1
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - ' ='age 43 1
Farmakes: I mean even more so! 5,000 say. 10,000. What that will incur II
and where we center our educational system within this city.
OPEN DISCUSSION: GROUP HOMES. I
Krauss: I don't know what all I can say about it in the interest of being
brief. I think we have, we need to clarify some stuff in our ordinance and
I tried to tell you what our philosphical position is on these things.
That we believe we have an obligation to serve the needs of all our
residents in a fair way but right now you've got a problem waiting to
occur. When one of the primary standards for siting a large group home in
our community is that it has to have a good septic tank, we're missing the
point. Minnetonka, to give credit where it's due. It wasn't me but it was
the woman who's the Planning Director still over there, took some real
innovative steps with these things. Ann Perry worked on a Hennepin County II
committee to help move these facilities around and came up with standards
that were really tested under fire in Minnetonka in several situations. One
was a group home for troubled teenagers going into an old school. Another II
was a shelter for battered women. What I ask you to do is take a look at
the standards in the Minnetonka ordinance. We can adopt something like
that. We can work on something else but I threw that on the table because 11
I think it does a fairly good job.
Batzli: I liked the standards. It looked to me like'it buffered it. It
took into account size and impact on the neighboring properties so I II " thought it was a real good, you know use that as a model. I guess that's
what I'd like to see. What does everybody else say?
Ahrens: 1 think it's well written. 1
8atzli: Yeah. So do we want staff to draw something like that up? Is
that how we want to use up more of that time with? '
Krauss: I'd also tell you too, I want to contact Chuck Gabrielson and get
his input on it. Chuck is the program director of the only real group home'
we have in the city right now. I think he's a pretty decent fella who
would give us his comments.
Batzli: Straight scoop. Okay. ,
Farmakes: Can I ask a question, since as I'm not as experienced as some of
the people on here. One of the definitions they had in here was mentally II
ill. Is there a definition for that? It's kind of a broad range.
Krauss: I don't know.
Emmings: I'm sure there must be. I'm sure there is. The State has to
have one because they have MI programs and they've got to have a
definition. I don't know what it is though.
Farmakes: And there isn't a definition in here for criminal group home or
people who are coming out of prison.
Emmings: Halfway house?
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Planning Commission Meeting
'March 4, 1992 - Page 44
1 Farmakes: Halfway house. Does that come under that?
Krauss: Well I don't know. That's the details you need to get into
because a lot of those are not licensed specifically by the State. Judges
can remand people to certain homes.
Emmings: I wasn't thinking we were talking about those when I was reading
I this.
Batzli: No, I guess I wasn't either. That's an interesting point though
Jeff.
Emmings: I think we're talking about licenses.
' Farmakes: Well I was talking about some of the problems they've had in
Minnetonka in a group home there where people who are sexual offenders.
Krauss: Oh, that was not actually a legal group home. That was a defacto
one that was taken over by Reverend Ralph. I forget his full name but...
Farmakes: But it was a group home?
1 Krauss: It was not in compliance. The guy bought the home and he was, I
don't know if he was ordained but he was a minister of some sort and he
started having services in his home for theoretically an outreach and he
turned into a defacto group home. It didn't meet the City's criteria. I
forget why but I know that the zoning administrator was after them to close
the place down for a long period of time and it ultimately was.
Farmakes: My only comment was, the intent I think in the Minnetonka
ordinance is fine. I did have some questions in that regard and I also had
a few questions in the issue of, I'm assuming that this is for profit and
not for profit in regards to these?
Krauss: It could be either.
Farmakes: Either. And the two instances I've known in the southwest
suburbs here where there's been a problem like I just mentioned, neither
11 one of those house residents were from the community. I refer back to the
intent that you originally referred to in here and I'm wondering how much
of that if it is for profit, some of these homes primarily get their
clients from out of the community.
Krauss: The issue as to whether somebody's remanded by a Judge or a court
system probably needs to be addressed and frankly, part of the Minnetonka
ordinance that I was less than comfortable with is the lack of assurances.
I mean some of the stuff that Minnetonka did, there's one for the teenagers
that were remanded by a Judge was done fairly sensitively. They put City
Planning Commissioners and City Council people on their Board and all that
but this is a program where the kids are not locked in and have the ability
to run. The question came up, what happens if they take off? The answer
was, well then they're out of the program. Well, that wasn't a good enough
response and I felt less than comfortable with that. But those were
conditions that could be placed upon the permit. I'll try and get you more
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Planning Commission Meeting •
March 4, 1992 - Page 45
information on that. There's another one too I think Jeff that you're II mentioning that is a large group home where they did have a problem where
somebody, I think was raped from somebody and that was up on Hwy 12. I
forget the details beyond that.
Farmakes: How about the one in Chaska?
Krauss: The one I'm thinking of is just on Hwy 12 just before you get into'
Wayzata. But I'll try and clarify that. You shouldn't be buying
something that you're not, that opens up the door. But the ones in
Minnetonka that were the more tragic situations I think were the home for 11
battered women. And it was a neighborhood dispute that was, I mean this
ordinance was developed basically in response to the situations that arose
from that. There was a group home for mentally retarded kids suffering
from a very exotic syndrome called Praderwilly Syndrome where they
literally will eat themselves to death. And they need to be in a full
residential situation with full time guidance and they bought an old
mansion over by Minnehaha Creek in Minnetonka Mills and it caused a big
neighborhood uproar. Oddly enough though after they moved that program out
of there, there were other groups homes that tried to get into -there
because it was set up with dormintories and what not and they didn't meet
the criteria. Primarily because they were at the end of a residential
cul -de -sac. It was just inappropriately placed and there wasn't sufficient
open space to justify that level of occupancy. And basically you had a
white elephant and they couldn't occupy it again with a group residence.. I '
think converted it back to a single family home. We can get into that a
little more.
Batzli: Okay, but you're comfortable with at least the direction? 1
Farmakes: Yeah, I just wanted to bring up those points because when I read
through it, those really weren't answered in there.
DISCUSSION OF AMENDMENT REGARDING SALES OF SEXUALLY ORIENTED MATERIAL.
Krauss: First Amendment, Supreme Court, you can't do it. There's only two l
options for doing it. Roger's told us this before and I guess it hasn't
changed substantially although I keep hearing of some new rulings that are
coming down but chip away at the edges of it. You either can designate an
area you want to give up on, the war zone concept or you can come up with
standards that say things like it can't be within 500 feet of a church or
1,.000 feet of a daycare center but then you have to overlay all those
criteria on a map and if you don't have a site that fits it, you've just
broken the law. I'm not sure if there's any good solution to this thing.
It's a little frustrating because clearly, I forget which town it was but II
up north where they had one that located next to a daycare center, it
destroyed the daycare center.
Batzli: I know in the past this group has said that they really don't want i
to look at this and I think the Council has directed that we look at it.
Emmings: Well I think we said, I think the decision here is an important II
one. I think trying to looking at the secondary effects of these places I
think is real legitimate. Looking at what they're doing or what they're
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 46
selling or anything else you ktow to me is something I have no...
Ahrens: But it looks like we have only one option anyway.
Batzli: We can only consider the secondary effects.
Emmings: Yeah, and I think before we talk about it though I think we talk
1 about whether you want to try and regulate the activity and I think that's
what we were talking about. We weren't really thinking about it in terms
of secondary effect.
Batzli: Okay, so you don't have a problem with this group looking at it as
long as we limit ourselves to that? Secondary effects.
Emmings: Right. Yeah.
Krauss: Meaning we're not trying to legislate what is or isn't obscene.
' Ahrens: Nobody's been able to do that yet.
Krauss: No, that seems to be where some of the more recent rulings are
coming down. I think the Supreme Court just accepted a case, and I'm not
sure what the implications are going to be but I think they define that
community standard thing a little better.
II A Batzli: I would like to try and avoid that. I'm sure this is one of the
biggest nimbe kind of issue ever invented.
Farmakes: It would go on forever. There are people who think that dancing
and bowling are obscene.
Krauss: The best you might be able to do or the best we might be able to
pull off is coming up with some criteria that it can't be a near a church
or can't be near a daycare center.
Emmings: And school.
Batzli: And limit it to a certain district or two. Can we limit it to the
central business? Can we do a war zone? Put it in the CBD but you can't
put it near a church. That kills half the CBD probably.
Krauss: Sure. But then you have the problems that come up like we have
that church that meets upstairs at the Frontier Building.
Emmings: I think they ought to share space.
Farmakes: This is material again and the piece that you handed out was
talking about adult entertainment. We got into the discussion last time
' about bars or what goes on in entertainment. You talked about the liquor
license and then some people get around for that by not having liquor
served.
Krauss: Well that's true. In fact Councilman Wing in fact, it's too bad
he's left because he's got a position paper he just wrote up on that very
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 47
•
issue. How do you deal with these things through liquor licenses and I'm
convinced we have a pretty good handle. I mean you just don't have to give
them a liquor license.
Farmakes: Yeah, but I think there are other things too. -There are other II
businesses. I heard on the news the other day that they had car washes in
the nude. I didn't keep the coupon but it seems to me that.
Ahrens: Not in this climate. '
Farmakes: From a practical standpoint it could get into everything. How
are you going to legislate it?
'Emmings: We'll say they have to stay open in the winter. If they're open
in the summer, they have to stay open in the winter. That will get them. II
Batzli: It's interesting because for example like Tampa just outlawed the
women selling hot dogs on the street corners in thong bikinis. And so you
know, people there's.
Ahrens: But men can do it.
Batzli: No, all thong bikinis are illegal in public beaches and street
corners or something. I don't know. •
Krauss: You've got to at some point define what this applies to. And does
it apply to the video store next to the Chinese restaurant?
Batzli: That's the problem because that seems to me to get into the issues"
that we don't want to look at. And that's going to be the biggest problem
is how do we get this to apply to something without passing judgment on
that and that's always been my concern with doing this personally. Does
that mean that it applies to the video store or the grocery store selling II
Penthouse or Playboy or? Who does this apply to then?
Krauss: And that's where I don't understand how to come up with something r
because ultimately you have to define why can the mini -mart over here sell
Hustler from behind the counter but if some store were solely dedicated to,
merchandising that kind of stuff, it was treated differently and I don't
know.
Farmakes: And what if they came in and they said Faulkner's obscene or To
Kill a Mockingbird is obscene to me. Take it off the shelf. What criteria t
do you use? I mean because you get the majority on one side that says we
feel that this is wrong.
Emmings: I think the thing that I guess I'd be concerned about is, are
more, well I'm not even going to say that. I thought I knew before I came
in here but I don't think I do. 1
Krauss: Well if anybody's got some constructive approaches to it, let me
know because.
Farmakes: Could the City Council, what are they worried about?
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 48
Krauss: I don't know. I think that, I mean I understand their fear.
Their fear is they're going to be confronted with something like that town
was up north that they can't deal with that's very destructive and
divisive.
Farmakes: Which town is this in?
Emmings: And what is it?
Batzli: What they opened was a.
Krauss: It's up around Champlain and that area.
Batzli: It was a bookstore, magazine store, which I think also had the
11 littie, did it have the little movie booths in there too?
Krauss: I think so.
1 Batzli: It was a XXX kind of a place though and they put it in within 50
• feet or 25 feet of•a daycare facility and all the parents were dropping off
1 their kids at the daycare facility went bunkers and they pulled their kids
out and it ruined the daycare facility. 1 mean that's the issue is are you
going to allow businesses to come into the community that have an adverse
impact like that on certain types of businesses like potentially schools,
daycare and be able to do it without regulating content of everybody and
that's my concern.
Farmakes: It seems to me it's the price you pay for the freedom.
Batzli: Yeah. But is it fair to the existing stores? I mean you get into
this kind of argument.
Farmakes: You could reverse the argument also.
' Batzli: Is it fair not to let them in?
Farmakes: You're a lawyer and all 1 can say is that it seems like it's a
merry -go -round and it would seem to me very difficult. You could reverse
the comment and have a store owner come in and say the daycare was built
next to my place of business and ruined my business. It then becomes
community judgment as to which one they wanted as far as content goes.
11 Ahrens: But I think at some point communities are obliged to make
decisions of who can locate where.
Batzli: But we do that all the time.
Farmakes: ...used for zoning.
Emmings: We don't really do it based on moral judgments though.
Batzli: We should be doing it on kind of health and welfare kind of
issues. I mean the gas station can't be within a certain distance because
of the odors and the traffic and things like that. If in fact this would
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 49
generate some health or hazard`to the stores next door, then I think it's
something we should be looking at. I don't know that it would, although I
think there have been areas in, war zone kind of areas where it does bring
in in theory crime and prostitution and whatever to these districts that
they set up.
Ahrens: ...on Lake Street where that's been a real problem.
Batzli: Yeah. And so the question is, do we try to regulate it in
advance? Keep them spread out but if we do that, how do we decide who has
to be spread out?
Farmakes: It's still a valid, under 18? Is that the criteria that's
used? They didn't elaborate that on here as far as age.
Krauss: I don't know.
Farmakes: Like for instance that next to a place where there are children II
concentrated or something of that nature. They do that say with liquor
don't they?
Krauss: Well frankly, some bf the liquor reviews get kind of odd. I mean II
you'll get a minister coming in saying, it's within a,mile of my church.
You can't do that. Or it's 4 blocks from a high school so you can't sell
beer. I mean it's a regulated industry you know. You're breaking the law
if you sell it but I guess I'd have to ask Roger that if we really wanted
to establish criteria to make sure that the more abusive locations are
avoided, and how do we define what we're moving around? 1
Emmings: Right. That's the problem. •Can't do it.
Batzli: What do we need to either move this or kill this at this point 1
then?
Krauss: I guess I'd really like to ask Roger that question specifically. I'
mean my discomfort is not being able to differentiate between Brooks.
Ahrens: We already know that we allow that. The community doesn't have a II
real big problem with that. With the Brooks market selling magazines
right? We're not worried about controlling that.
Krauss: But the material, I mean some of the stuff Roger's got in here is 1
fairly graphic.
Emmings: I read this several times. Slowly. 1
Farmakes: ...and acceptable under the law?
Krauss: Yeah. But I guess I just don't know how you differentiate between!'
the video store with the back room with the X rated movies. The Brooks
with the stuff behind the counter from Ferris Alexander's nephew opening ups
omething you know downtown. If there's a creative way of doing that,
maybe it warrants making sure the worse abuses are at least taken care of.
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Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 5O
Emmings: It's a little different here than Minneapolis I think because if
people from the community don't go in there, if people object to what's in
there, they don't have to go in. And I have a hard time thinking that
people are going to be driving.
Farmakes: ...down south they can't sell.
Emmings: Right.
Krauss: That's true but I think that there's, from us who live in suburban
areas, I think there's a fair amount of smugness that we live in an area
1 that wouldn't support the business. Yet you go down to Lake Street and you
figure out where everybody's coming from.
Ahrens: They're all driving Jeeps.
Emmings: I saw you down there last time didn't I Paul? You were looking
to see who was comeing down there.
Krauss: Yeah, I was doing a survey.
' Batzli: But you probably want to go outside of the community to purchase
it so they wouldn't be recognized.
Krauss: Well there is that. But let me ask Roger that question and see
what kind of response we can get.
Batzli: Okay. Good way to handle that. Did everybody notice that we have
a schedule now for attendance at City Council meetings.
Ahrens: Is there any purpose for us to be there if they're not discussing
thought any?
Krauss: At the next Council meeting? No.
Batzli: So you're off the hook. Okay, so the only notice we get is, oh
and it also states our terms on the back side. I didn't even notice that.
1 Ahrens: Mine's wrong on there.
Batzli: Is it? What's your term?
Ahrens: Well I mean the beginning date for my term is wrong.
Batzli: It says appointment date, '86. Boy you have been on the
commission a long time haven't you?
Krauss: Unless it was because of, did you fill a seat that was vacated by
a resignation?
Ahrens: Yes.
Batzli: Dave's?
Planning Commission Meeting
March 4, 1992 - Page 51
Krauss: No.
Batzli: She's sitting in Dave's spot.
Ahrens: Dave Wildermuth?
Batzli: No, Jim Wildermuth. Dave Headla. So don't tack Dave's on there
with her. That looks about when Dave would have been appointed to me.
Emmings: Yeah.
Batzli: Okay, anyway. The only notice that you get of your turn in the 1
barrel attending the Council meeting is you get the packet a couple days in
advance.
Krauss: Friday the cops will show up at your door.
Emmings moved, Ahrens seconded to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor 1
and the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10 :20 p.m..
Submitted by Paul Krauss
Planning Director
Prepared by Nann Opheim
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MINIITES
3/12/92
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COMMISSION
PRESENT: Don Chmiel, Dave Dummer, Brian Beniek, Dave Johnson,
Eldon Berkland, Craig Blechta, Bill Bernhjelm
Councilmember Richard Wing
Public Safety Director Scott Harr
Fire Chief Jim McMahon
CSO Bob Zydowsky
' Building Official Steve A. Kirchman
Sgt. Julie Boden
Conservation Officer Steve Walter
Chairperson Dummer opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. with a reminder
that these meetings will start promptly at 7:00 p.m.
Brian Beniek motioned, Dave Johnson seconded, to approve the
2/13/92 minutes as written. All voted in favor and the motion
' passed.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Fire Chief McMahon asked the Commission to research the City's
A insurance coverage fo'r volunteer firefighters. Director Harr,
' - Assistant City Manager Todd Gerhardt and Firefighter John Wolf will
meet with the City's insurance representative and report back at
the April meeting.
1 The heavy rescue truck has been ordered and will arrive
approximately April 20. Lynch Display Vans, Inc., will be showing
the truck April 11 - 15 in a Cincinnati International Conference
presentation. The rescue truck will be available for display at
the May Public Safety Commission meeting.
Chief McMahon explained the new cooperation with the Chaska Fire
Department. Firefighters are training with both departments for
mutual aid cooperation. Firefighter Blechta is also coordinating
training exercises for Chanhassen firefighters and the Minneapolis
111 Fire Department.
CARVER COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
Sgt. Boden reported the deputies are in arbitration. She also
invited any Councilmembers or Commissioners to ride along with the
Sheriff's Department.
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INSPECTION DIVISION
Building Official Kirchman reported upcoming projects with both
commercial and residential developments. Discussion was held on
' the status of the weather station. Steve also welcomed ride - alongs
with any of the Inspectors.
1 OLD BUSINESS •
Discussion was held on the number of commissioners and the length
of terms. Eldon Berkland motioned, Craig Blechta seconded, to
approve the amended ordinance to read 7 members serving 3 year
terms.
1 Eldon Berkland motioned, Brian Beniek seconded, to eliminate the
requirement of a Public Commission annual report. All voted in
favor and the motion passed.
' NEW BUSINESS
Director Harr commented on the article on the Community Service
Officers in the recent Villager. CSO Zydowsky noted the increase
I in animal calls during the past two months. Councilmember Wing
commended the CSO program and the level of management by the Public
Safety Director which make this a vital program for the City. He
' also stated his interest in having the CSOs assist the Fire
Department.
Director Harr discussed the past three years of participation in
1 the Animal Control Contract. His recommendation is to continue one
more year with the five cities and to evaluate the contract again
this time next year. The Commission concurred with this
' recommendation.
Director Harr discussed his recommendation to adjust our animal
' control fines so as to be in line with the other cities in Carver
County that are establishing a uniform schedule. Craig Blechta
motioned, Bill Bernhjelm seconded, to accept the uniform animal
control fines recommended by Director Harr. All voted in favor and
1 the motion passed.
Discussion was held on the current shooting /hunting map. Director
1 Harr reminded the Commission that they had desired to review the
shooting boundaries each year. Sgt. Boden and DNR Conservation
Officer Walter discussed the fact that there have been very few
complaints. It was the consensus that as the City continues to
grow, the shooting boundaries will shrink. It was suggested that
a restriction be included to restrict shooting close to parks and
trails. Bill Bernhjelm motioned, Eldon Berkland seconded, to
recommend the addition to the d. restrictions on the map side of
the permit "Within 500 ft. of any road, street or highway, park or
trail". Director Harr will present this recommendation to the City
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Council for approval. 1
Director Harr discussed a desire to review the necessity of warning
sirens in town. Councilmember Wing discussed prior meetings
regarding the outdoor warning siren issue. Commissioner Dummer
would like some recommendations go to the Council addressing the
issue of additional outdoor warning sirens in the City after the
Public Safety Commission has reviewed the situation. 'Director Harr '
will meet with the Park & Recreation Coordinator to discuss other
funding possibilities. The next meeting on the outdoor siren issue
will be prior to the next Commission meeting on April 9, 6 p.m.
Craig Blechta motioned, Bill Bernhjelm seconded to adjourn the
meeting at 8:45 p.m.
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